Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Cochon555 is Bringing 1,500 Pounds of Pork to NYC

By

Feasting is our column dedicated to cooking, grilling, eating and discovering what’s on the menu across America and the world.

Sustainable meat is important to us here at The Manual. Not only does it make a difference in the worlds of animal welfare and environmental issues, humanely-raised meat always tastes better. From buffalo to chicken, there are amazing companies out there who are changing the landscape of raising livestock for the better; Cochon555 is here to do that for heritage pig breeds.

cochon555 nyc
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you’re not familiar with Cochon555, now’s the time to get acquainted. Every year, Cochon555 embarks on a tour of the United States by visiting 20 cities and throwing 60 events that are focused on hyper-local food and raising awareness for heritage pig breeds through a nose-to-tail cooking competition. Five chefs are chosen from each stop on the tour to compete against one another by cooking a whole heritage hog using their own innovative techniques and flavor profiles. A mere week before the event, each participating chef is presented with a 180-200 pound pig and tasked with preparing a “Judge’s Plate” of six dishes that are scored on categories like technique and flavor. The winner from each city is dubbed the “Prince or Princess of Porc” and invited to compete in the national championship Grand Cochon, which is going to be held in Chicago this fall. Anyone can buy tickets to the epic nose-to-tail feast, and a portion of the proceeds are donated to Cochon’s sister charity Piggy Bank, a nonprofit foundation that strives to help emerging family farmers by providing resources like sales tactics, scientific best practices and retail and chef connections.

Related: You Love Bacon Because of Josh Ozersky

cochon555 nyc
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In addition to the 30 competing chef’s dishes—which utilize about 1,500 pounds of heritage pork from family farms—the communal feast will include treats like farmhouse cheeses, a salami snack bar from Creminelli and Divina, a ramen noodle bar paired with the Wines of Germany, and organic pâté from Les Trois Petit Cochons. To wash it all down, libations like Breckenridge Bourbon Smoked Old Fashioneds, an Angostura Rum Tiki Bar, a Courvoisier tasting with hand-crafted caramels, and wines from around the world will be served.

cochon555 nyc
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first stop on the Cochon555 tour is New York City, and we couldn’t be more excited to check out the epic feast for the first time. Five chefs from some of our favorite restaurants were chosen to participate and include Nicole Gajadhar of Saxon + Parole, Ryan Bartlow of Quality Eats, Greg Baxtrom of Olmsted, Aaron Hoskins of Birds & Bubbles and Chris Szyjka of Chef’s Club by Food & Wine. If you’re interested in supporting sustainable farmers and want to join us at the event, tickets start at $125 and can be purchased here. Our friend Chef Angie Mar of The Beatrice Inn took home last year’s title, so we can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in 2017. But if you can’t make it to the Big Apple, there are 17 more stops on the tour from Miami to Los Angeles and everywhere in-between. Best of luck to all the chefs and may the best pork win!

Recommended Videos

Images courtesy of Galdones Photography / Cochon555

Amanda Gabriele
Amanda Gabriele
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Amanda Gabriele is a food and travel writer at The Manual and the former senior editor at Supercall. She can’t live without…
These dive bars don’t care about trends—and that’s exactly why we love them
Top dive bars
Dark bar with three empty barstools

Here's to the lowbrow watering hole. These practical establishments don't need bells and whistles like house-made tinctures and custom light fixtures. No, they've given us enough as it is, from that Cheers-like hospitality to that vintage dive bar smell.

Here's to the dive bar. The temple for regulars where a jukebox is preferred to a playlist, a sticker-covered bathroom is the norm, and a regular spoon, not a bar spoon, will do just fine for mixing drinks. Oh, and the drinks tend to be strong.

Read more
I tested Hestan’s ProBond Luxe line — why it’s a smart investment for everyday cooking
Hestan ProBond

After using Hestan's NanoBond cookware for a few months, I've found myself cooking almost exclusively with stainless steel pans. Why? It was the brand’s durability and performance that quickly won me over. So when the new ProBond Luxe line launched, I was curious to see how it would stack up, especially as a more accessible alternative to Hestan's higher-end collections.

Released earlier this month, the ProBond Luxe cookware is made from tri-ply stainless steel and was designed in collaboration with professional chefs. I tested one of the pans in my home kitchen to see how it handled everyday cooking — from weeknight meals to weekend experiments.

Read more
Beyond burgers: The underrated steak cuts perfect for tailgating
The cuts that turn a parking lot grill into a five-star pregame
Grilling at a tailgating party.

Tailgates are supposed to be a party. Friends circled around a cooler, the smell of charcoal in the air, someone balancing a too-full plate on the hood of a car. But too often the food feels like an afterthought — burgers, dogs, maybe a bag of chips if someone remembered. Fine, sure, but not exactly memorable.

If you’re firing up a grill in a parking lot, you might as well make it worth the trouble. This year, skip the sad burger patties and show up with beef that makes people stop mid-conversation. Tri-tip, hanger steak, flap steak — cuts with actual personality. They’re flavorful, affordable, and cook up beautifully without requiring you to be an award-winning pitmaster. Trust me, once you serve steak at a tailgate, there’s no going back.

Read more