Cochon 555: What It Is And Why You Should Go

“So, I’m a bit confused. It’s an… event… about pig charity?”

“Heritage pigs.”

“K. Fine. But we EAT the pigs?”

“Yes. We are celebrating them by eating them.”

“K. Fine. No, wait. I’m confused.”

“There will be many cocktails. And much wine?”

“I’m in.”

As a professional drinker, I drag my very supportive husband to many food and cocktail events. Rarely have we left one as full, happy, and in desperate need of a nap.

Cochon 555 (555 = five chefs, five pigs, and five winemakers) is essentially a traveling pig feast and its most recent incarnation was held at AT&T park in San Francisco. Its mission is to raise awareness for the importance of breeding heritage pigs; their meat is superior and their numbers are dwindling. Cochon 555 hopes to prove through delicious “nose-to-tail” pig dishes that we need to buy, breed, and eat these special hogs.

If only all important causes could be supported through the consumption of delicious pork.

Like most things, excellent food can be made more fun when you add some competition to the mix. Cochon 555 does this by pitting the five pig-wielding chefs against one another to determine the ultimate Champioink/Demahog (definitely not their official titles, but maybe they should be). This years competitors were Sophina Uong of Bi-Rite Market, Ayesha Curry and Jeremy McMillan of International Smoke, Scott Romano of Dry Creek Kitchen, Jennifer Puccio of Cavalier, and Howard Ko of the Bear and Monarch, with Curry and McMillan winning the day.

And there were drinks! A particularly necessary component since nothing makes you feel better about consuming an entire pig carcass single-handedly like something high ABV to go with it. Monkey 47, Angostura, Buffalo Trace, Glenfiddich, Anchor Distilling, and El Tesoro all made very welcome appearances.

Best of all Cochon 555 travels, which means wherever you are, there’s a chance these heritage pig based dishes and accompanying drinks will be headed your way so you can go too. Do it. I mean, it’s for a good cause.