CHEF THAI CHANGTHONG OF EAST SIDE KING THAI-KUN WINS HERITAGE BBQ BY COCHON 555 IN AUSTIN HIGHLIGHTS AND PHOTOS FROM THE GLOBAL BBQ EVENT AT THE DRISKILL
Notable chefs and farmers worked together to spotlight global BBQ grilling traditions and old world cooking techniques at North America’s hyper-local culinary tour this past weekend in Austin
AUSTIN, TX (October 19, 2015) – On Sunday, Chef Thai Changthong was announced the King of BBQ at Heritage BBQ, with a Red Wattle from Black Hill Meats at a friendly culinary competition promoting heritage breed pigs and global grilling cultures. The winning menu included Nahm: Fermented Sausage with Thai Chili, Whipped Fat Skin Salad, Moo Whan: Candied Fat, Fried Shrimp, Fat Fried Rice and Green Mango, Blood Laap: Minced Heart, Liver and Tongue Meat, Moo Satay: Grilled coppa, Caul Fat and Ajaat Salad with Peanut, Massaman Curry Soup and Moo Toon: Five Spice Braised Leg with Noodles. Photos from the event and winning menu can be found here http://j.mp/ATXBBQPICS.
Cochon555’s Heritage BBQ aims to rebuild our perception of BBQ by going back to its roots and showcasing the original context of BBQ, which meant, local meats cooked with native spices, over fires and shared with a community. The series of events aims to tilt the scales in favor of building long-term relationships between family farms and the larger commodity meat buyers like BBQ restaurants who can join the fight to support small family farmers.
This year’s competing chefs included Josh Jones of Salt & Time, who cooked Spanish style to celebrate the first-ever Iberico pig used in a North American culinary competition, Andrew Wiseheart of Contigo and Gardner prepared Americana, Sarah McIntosh of Épicerie Café & Grocery prepared Cajun / Creole, Quealy Watson of Hot Joy prepared Southern Asian, and winner Thai Changthong of East Side King Thai-Kun took home top honors with his North, South and Central Thailand inspired menu. Each chef was given a whole heritage breed pig raised on a local family farm, and in seven days, worked with their teams to present a “Judge’s Plate” consisting of six dishes scored on utilization, global influences, cooking techniques and overall flavor. The winner in Austin was crowned the “BBQ King” and took home more than $3,000 in prizes, including a Dream Bar from Wilsonart, exclusive bar tools and cookware from Williams-Sonoma, alongside a large supply of premium whiskey, ryes and bourbons.
In addition to sampling the competitor’s dishes, guests enjoyed Cochon 555’s spotlight called “BBQ Traditions”, an epic tasting inside the event where notable chefs prepared one dish from their favorite BBQ culture like Hibachi, Char Siu, Barbacoa, Asado, Satay or even regional American BBQ styles. Daniel Olivella of Barlata prepared La Brasa, Andrew Curren of Italic prepared Vietnamese, Lance Kirkpatrick of of Stiles Switch BBQ prepared Central Texas BBQ and Joe Anguiano of Vox Table prepared Barbacoa.
The all-inclusive stand up tasting event included 1,400+ pounds of heritage pig, “pop-up” culinary experiences, premium wines, artisan cheeses, sustainable seafood, hand-crafted spirits, fine cocktails, and a very impressive selection of whiskies, ryes and bourbon. The stunning lineup of sponsors behind this celebration of heritage species included Williams-Sonoma’s local butcher demo with Bryan Butler of Salt & Time which raised $750 for Piggy-Bank.org, Wilsonart’s “Perfect Manhattan Experience” featuring Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Breckenridge, Westland Whiskey, Bulleit, George Dickel and Luxardo cherries, punches and delicious sodas courtesy of DRY Soda and the brand new TIKI Bar was a huge hit including three different Tiki-inspired libations created with The Perfect Puree of Napa and the spirits of Breckenridge Distillery. Guests enjoyed wine tastings from Broadbent Selections, Wines from Rioja, Felline-Racemi, Infinite Monkey Theorem, a Chupito Bar featuring Fidencio, Koch el Mezcal, La Venenosa and Mezcales de Leyenda, brews from Karbach Brewing Co., tastings from Austin Eastciders, the Rib Cart experience courtesy of Creekstone Farms, welcome ribs from Berkwood Farms and Big Cat BBQ and Apis, Rappahannock River Oysters prepared by parkside, the Artisan Cheese Bar presented by Antonelli’s Cheese Shop including Creminelli Fine Meats and La Brea Bakery and Krave Jerky. A portion of the proceeds benefitted the local culinary school and Piggy-Bank.org while building opportunities for local family farms.
“It’s always amazing to be in Austin; a great market of socially conscious people and a demographic we truly identify with” said Cochon founder Brady Lowe. “With the launch of our new charity, Piggy Bank, we couldn’t pick a better city to support our new cause and message that family farms are still a minority group needing our support. Austin was the perfect city to include in Heritage BBQ’s five-city tour and a big thank you to Julie Gardziola, Jenna Reed and the whole team at The Driskill, the host of the event. It was another strong turnout in Austin and I’m truly honored to have collaborated with a team of amazing chefs, sponsors and farmers who were so receptive to the flavors, charity and cause.”
About Heritage BBQ by COCHON 555
Started in 2012 in an effort to bridge the gap between family farms and all categories of BBQ restaurants, Heritage BBQ by Cochon 555, is the first national BBQ competition dedicated to supporting a new direction for heritage breed pigs by expanding the conversation to a global economy. Created by Cochon 555 Founder Brady Lowe, Heritage BBQ engages existing BBQ restaurants in the local and sustainable food conversation taking place nationwide while simultaneously breaking ground on a new hyper-local, globally-themed, farm-supporting BBQ.
About The Cochon US Tour
The Cochon US Tour executes a variety of unique, local food events that are focused on raising enthusiasm for supporting family farms with the world’s first environmentally conscious nose-to-tail pig competition. The flagship Cochon 555 event is celebrated as the world’s first nose-to-tail pig competition in the fine-dining community. Created in response to the lack of consumer education around “heritage breed pigs”, this epic pork feast visits 20 major cities in North America annually. The US Tour also includes other live-event festivals, these focused culinary expressions include Heritage BBQ (global cultures), Heritage Fire (live-fire event), EPIC Cochon (hyper-premium), and Cochon Island (agri-tourism). The events feature top chefs preparing locally raised heritage breed proteins. Together with winemakers, brewers, distillers and craft food champions, they create authentic culinary events celebrating the good food movement. Since its launch, the tour has supported responsible family farming by sharing heritage breed pig experience with over 50,000, by donating more than $450,000 to charities and culinary schools, and buying more than $1,000,000 in food raised by local farmers. For more details about the events, visit www.cochon555.com or follow @cochon555 on Twitter.
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