oink oink it’s time to save the date for the 2016 COCHON555 
taking place at the Viceroy Santa Monica on March 13th. The culinary competition returns to Los Angeles.
You can enter to win two VIP tickets by watching a video and joining the Good Food Movement!
Cochon555 is the stand-up tasting reception featuring five chefs cooking five heritage breed pigs for a cause Sunday, March 13 at Viceroy Santa Monica (Official Host & Hotel). The 2016 tour benefits Piggy Bank a sanctuary that will provide free heritage breed pigs and business plans to emerging family farms. You can purchase tickets for the weekend at www.cochon555.com and for a behind the scenes look at the culinary competition, watch Cochon555’s stunning video here http://j.mp/555_Trailer.
I was excited to attend the 2015 Cochon555 and was fascinated by the chef’s creative uses of the entire heritage pig. The weekend had three back-to-back events with Chef Walter Manzke of Republique being crowned the ‘Prince of Porc’. He won the title preparing a whole pig menu featuring the ‘Large Black’ raised by Cook Pigs Ranch. Chef Walter went on to compete for the national title in Denver, CO.
Cochon555 uses heritage breeds and last years’ winner used the ‘Large Black’ a Chinese breed brought to England, known for its taste, pasture foraging skills and overall hardiness. The micro-marbling, short muscle fibers and excellent bellies produce exceptional bacon and moist meat with old world flavor providing Chef Walter ideal meat for his winning menu of five uniquely created delicious bites. Walter’s winning dishes included Pork Belly with Black River Caviar, Jambon-Beurre, Pork Ceviche and Arroz Caldo, a Filipino Rice Porridge. Along with two exclusive dinners hosted by 2014 King of Porc Ray Garcia, Cochon555’s stop in Los Angeles raised awareness for heritage breed pigs raised by family farms. For photos of the 2015 LA event, click .
The Los Angeles flavor-studded weekend supports a great cause by starting with two unique dinners bringing together five guest chefs, world-renowned winemakers and beverage experts to create a multi-course, interactive dining experience to benefit Piggy Bank. Friday kicks off with a Late Night Asian Speakeasy, an all-inclusive guest chef’s dinner party paying homage to Chinese, Sichuan, Korean, Thai and Japanese restaurants. On Saturday, the Chef’s Course Dinner Series is multi-course seated feast featuring five guest chefs cooking courses paired with premium beverages. Tickets to the dinners are available online at $125 per person and 100% of the proceeds will benefit Piggy Bank. On Sunday, the epic feast features celebrity chefs cooking whole hogs in a stand-up reception of epic proportions. Guests are encouraged to buy tickets as the event is expected to sell out earlier this year. Cochon555 is running a 21-day contest, “Can’t We Just Be Friends”, giving away two VIP Tickets worth $400. Friends of the good food movement can sign up for the latest news on the weekend and enter the contest here: http://woobox.com/jnesum.
The Cochon555 US Tour would not be possible without our amazing lineup of sponsors including Viceroy Santa Monica, Williams-Sonoma, Wines of Germany, The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley, DRY Sparkling, Breckenridge Distillery, Anchor Distilling, Buffalo Trace, Martinez Lacuesta, Creminelli, Wines from Rioja, Michael Mondavi Family Estate, Tenuta Sassoregale, Tequila Don Julio, Creekstone Farms, Junipero, Eagle Rare, Common Cider, Antica Napa Valley, Don Amado Mezcal, Fidencio, Mezcales de Leyenda, Rhum Clément, Plantation Rum, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, Koch el Mezcal, La
Venenosa, Mezcal Derrumbes, Azzurro Wine Company, Luxardo, Pax Wine Cellars, Ridge Vineyards, Scholium Project, Sandhi Wines, Pisoni Vineyards, Arista Winery, Rappahannock River Oysters, Hedley & Bennett, La Brea Bakery, Cypress Grove Chevre, Coach Farm, Parrano, Sun Noodle, California Olive Ranch and Birchware. The beverage program includes Cochon555’s Punch Kings local barkeep competition a spotlight on Five Winemakers including sought-after wines and a Wines of the World spotlight Sommelier Smackdown. The official chef lineup and more tasty experiences will be announced with the Official Chef Announcement lineup 45 days in advance of the event. For an in-depth look at the Cochon555 movement and tickets to this must-do culinary weekend, please visit www.cochon555.com.
About Cochon555 US Tour
The Cochon555 US Tour, executes a variety of authentic, hyper-local food events focused on raising awareness for heritage breed pigs with the world’s first nose-to-tail pig competition. 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 with over 60 events.
All Cochon555 events cultivate a long-term impact for heritage species raised by family farms, reaching the top culinary markets in North America while promoting our sponsors’ messages to 16,000 guests by drawing from the biggest names in the hospitality industry, including 2,200+ chefs, 150+ family farms and 16 culinary schools. Since 2009, 50,000+ consumers have experienced heritage pork for the first time, more than $500,000 has been donated to charities and over $750,000 has been paid directly to our farmers. Together with winemakers, brewers, distillers and craft food makers they create authentic culinary events celebrating champions in the good food movement. For more details about the events and to see videos referencing all the events in the Cochon555 family, visit www.cochon555.com or follow @cochon555 on Twitter and Instagram.
About Piggy Bank
Launched in 2015 by Brady Lowe, founder of the Cochon555 US Tour and Taste Network, Piggy Bank’s mission is to create a heritage breed pig sanctuary that provides free genetics and business plans to emerging family farms. The sanctuary will change the future of food by uniting a community working together for safer, responsible farming practices and sharing of genetics, livestock and the sharing of information. Piggy Bank is dedicated to creating the first Open Source agriculture platform through the responsible farming of heritage species. The Piggy Bank farm, located in Missouri, will raise pigs to be gifted only to communities dedicated to elevating the cause and expanding the model of social and agricultural transparency. Piggy Bank is a project of The Giving Back Fund, Inc., a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation with federal tax exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3). Follow the Piggy Bank conversation on Twitter @PiggyBankOrg. For more information about Piggy Bank or The Giving Back Fund, please contact Kerith Dilley or visit www.piggy-bank.org.
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