HIGH FIVES ALL-AROUND FOR COCHON 555 AS IT
ANNOUNCES ITS FIFTH-ANNIVERSARY TOUR
Tickets On Sale Now For 10-City Tour Celebrating Heritage Pigs,
Family Wineries & Friendly Culinary Competition
ATLANTA, GA (December 14, 2012) — The year 2013 marks a culinary milestone: The fifth anniversary of Cochon 555, a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event created to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. Gathering together five chefs, five pigs and five wineries at each event, Cochon 555 touches down in 10 cities across the country – beginning in New York City on Sunday, February 10, with an all-female lineup – bringing its message of nose-to-tail cooking, breed diversity and family farming to food enthusiasts nationwide.
Among the celebrated chefs participating this year will be New York’s Alex Guarnaschelli; Vail, CO’s Kelly Liken; Seattle’s Jonathan Sundstrom; Washington, D.C.’s Mike Isabella; Miami’s Jeffrey McInnis, and Chicago’s Matthias Merges. Heritage breeds getting the spotlight will include the likes of Gloucestershire Old Spot, Mangalitsa “Wooly Pig,” Tamworth, Red Wattle, Berkshire, Mulefoot, Guinea Hog, Ossabaw Island Hog, Large Black and Hereford, among others.
“I’m passionate about increasing awareness of the sources that support a more natural, sustainable food system,” explains Brady Lowe, founder of Cochon 555. “One event cannot change the entire food production system (not yet anyway), but we can celebrate producers who are favorably tilting the scales back towards honest, local, responsibly grown food.”
Each Cochon 555 event challenges five local chefs to prepare a menu created from the entirety of heritage breed pigs for an audience of pork-loving epicureans and celebrated judges. Guests are treated to an epic pork feast alongside wines from five small family-owned wineries plus special tastings from celebrated food and beverage producers. Twenty judges and 400 guests help decide the winning chef, who is crowned the Prince (or Princess) of Porc and will compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen on Sunday, June 16.
Dates for the Cochon 555 Fifth-Anniversary Tour are:
New York City – Sunday, February 10
Atlanta – Sunday, February 17
Vail, CO – Sunday, March 10
Seattle – Sunday, March 17
Boston – Sunday, March 24
Washington, D.C. – Sunday, April 7
San Francisco – Sunday, April 14
Miami – Sunday, April 24
Chicago – Sunday, April 28
Los Angeles – Sunday, May 5
Aspen (Grand Cochon) – Sunday, June 16
New additions to the events in 2013 include the launch of Tartare Bar, a special Mezcal tasting and a cocktail competition called “Punch Kings” featuring Breckenridge Bourbon and local mixologists. Attendees can also enjoy butcher demonstrations, ice-cold beers, artisan cheeses, sustainable oysters, the Manhattan Bar and pork-spiked desserts with cold-brewed coffee will close the evening.
Since its launch in 2009, Cochon 555 and its programs such as Chef’s Course have supported responsible family farming across the country. As a result, 35,000 people have tasted heritage pigs – more than at any other event in the country; charities have received more than $270,000, and more than $400,000 has gone directly to great farmers across the country.
Tickets for Cochon 555 events are $125 (general admission) and $200 (VIP); to purchase tickets, visit www.cochon555.com.
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About Cochon
Created by Taste Network’s Brady Lowe in 2009 in response to the lack of consumer education around heritage breeds, Cochon is a national event series that takes place in 14 major markets. Each year, Cochon 555 embarks on a 10-city culinary competition and tasting tour where 50 chefs are selected to prepare a “snout-to-tail” menu created from heritage breed pigs. The 10 winners from each regional event are flown to Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic for the final competition, Grand Cochon. Cochon All-Star, Cochon Epic, Cochon Island, Cochon Heritage Fire and the infamous Heritage BBQ competition are also slated for 2013. For more details about the events, visit www.cochon555.com or follow @cochon555 on Twitter.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW, PLEASE CONTACT
WAGSTAFF WORLDWIDE AT 212.227.7575 OR:
Amanda Hathaway, [email protected]
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