East Texas Takes the Win at Cochon555 in Las Colinas

All the pork took over the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas on Sunday.

Cochon555, the nose-to-tail culinary event supporting family farmers and educating buyers, had chefs taking entire pigs (we’re talking about 200 pounds) and creating something worthy of winning.

Chefs this year included Lance McWhorter (Culture ETX, Tyler), Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman (Jose, Dallas), Andrea Shackelford (Harvest Seasonal Kitchen, McKinney), Rich Vana (The Heritage Table, Frisco) and Cristof Syré (LAW at the Four Seasons, Las Colinas).

McWhorter, who was paired with Chubby Dog Farm, would come out on top as the winner for the evening.

“I was beyond happy to be paired up with them for the event. Karyn, Calvin and I spent the last couple of months planning for Cochon. We came up with a finishing diet for the pig, and made sure that he was the happiest pig on the planet,” the chef says. “For the menu, I just wanted to keep it simple and playful, which I guess is just kind of my style.”

McWhorter was joined by his team of David Blackwell, Christian Donaldson and his wife and pitmaster, Bailey. He also had help from chef Robert Cain and pitmaster Bryan Bingham.

But he’s not done yet. There’s more competing to do in Chicago for Grand Cochon.

To get a real sense of how much meat was in this event, check out this slideshow (and don’t miss the adorable baby trompos chef AQ’s team had that evening).