Porc-ing Out At COCHON Heritage Fire

Butchering demonstrations.  Heritage pigs.  Foraged mushrooms. Wild fowl.  Whole roast beasts.  These primal, back-to-basics trends in ingredient sourcing have an event all their own, and it's coming to Napa's River Terrace Inn on Saturday August 25th, 2012.

Photo courtesy of COCHON Heritage Fire

COCHON Heritage Fire is the second-largest COCHON 555 event, focused -- as the name suggests -- on our delicious heritage in food and cooking.  Heritage Fire celebrates the old-fashioned breeds of pig, goat, sheep, and rabbits that are now making a comeback, thanks to their (re)discovery by modern chefs and consumers more interested in optimal flavor than optimal farming efficiency.

Demonstrations of traditional butchering techniques and wood-fired, whole-animal roasting will put these tasty heirlooms at center stage for the event, while foraging specialists, artisan food companies, craft breweries and family-owned wineries round out the feast among the vines on the banks of the Oxbow River. 

I can't attend this year's star-studded event, and this makes me very sad indeed because the party will feature the Grand COCHON winner Jason Vincent from Nightwood in Chicago, as well as this year's "King of Porc" John Stewart and Duskie Estes (of zazu farm + restaurant, and the Black Pig Meat Company), and COCHON Napa winner Lars Kronmark of the CIA Greystone.  Tim Goodell (Food & Wine Magazine's Best New Chef) and many other outrageously talented chefs and food producers will team up to produce the day's delectable menu.

Stemple Creek (in Marin County) and Belcampo Meat Company (in Oakland) are supplying the heritage animals this year, and Dave the Butcher of Marina Meats in SF will host the butchering demonstration.  Peter Jacobsen of Jacobsen Orchards -- which supplies The French Laundry with premium Yountville-grown produce -- will guide the "Team Toast," with Dave's able assistance. 

Last but certainly not least, Todd Spanier, the "King of Mushrooms" (and truffles), is bringing his foraged funghi and charming self back to wine country, adding an earthy element to the Fire feast.  (Fun fact: Todd is the godson of the language professor who taught virtually my entire family how to speak basic Italian.  Turns out Todd now lives fifteen minutes from my brothers, but I never met him until we ran into each other at the inaugural Napa Truffle Festival.  Strange world, this.)

How will you wash down all this meaty, fiery bliss?  Magnolia Brewing, Anchor Brewing, Anchor Distilling, Templeton Rye, and a slew of family-owned wineries will be there to help.

Tickets for the afternoon feast are $150 each, and avaiable here.  Tickets cover you, your food and your libations from 3:30 to 6:30pm -- but keep an eye out for the after-party afterwards at Restaurant Cuvée, just next door. 

Follow @cochon555 on Twitter, and check the website and Facebook page for updates as they happen.

Pork and Buns

My girlfriend and I recently checked out Solbar for the first time (shocking, since it's been open for more than 30 days) and grazed through their lounge menu.  We totally wanted to order their cha siu bao pork buns, but our waitress talked us into getting the pork cheek tacos instead.  Those tacos were pretty fantastic with their tiny pickled Thai chili peppers and ripe avocado, but our pork bun craving remained in full force.  When we found ourselves at Redd's bar for dinner before the Charo concert in Yountville a few days later (an event that deserves its own post... ah, Charo), I took it as a sign from god that we should be eating pork buns that night. 

Redd's renowned open-face buns are only available at the bar, so you have to squeeze your way in among the drunken visitors and locals on the prowl to experience this porcine bliss--but it's well worth the effort.  Instead of the usual barbecued mystery meat, Redd uses smoky pork belly for the filling, diced into 3/4 inch chunks, crisped to a delicate crunchy perfection on all sides, and then glazed in hoisin sauce.  The steamed rice flour "bun" is more accurately a tender, toothsome pillow that cradles the ambrosial belly, soft taco style, capturing every drop of the bacon-laced plum sauce.  The accompanying pile of crisp julienned veggies in tangy rice wine vinegar makes a perfect foil for the rich morsels of sweet meaty delight.  We both piled the vegetables on top of the pork, folded the cloud-like bun around the assemblage, and inhaled.  Pure ecstasy.

With two five-inch buns per order, sharing this dish is probably best... but you have to really like the person you're sharing with.  There's no way I would have given up that second bun to anyone less worthy.  Keep this in mind when you plan your own pork bun pilgrimage to Y-ville.