On Sunday, chef Bruno Davaillon of Bullion was named Prince of Pork at the Cochon555 regional competition held at the Four Seasons Resort and Club. He joined co-competitors Christof Syré of LAW at Four Seasons, last year’s winner David Uygur of Macellaio, Matthew Scott of Great Scott, and Josh Bonee of Fine China.
The pork-centric, awareness-raising, meat-fantasy bonanza, which featured 1,500 pounds of heritage breed pork raised on family farms, raised $4,500 for Piggy Bank, a charitable foundation and start-up farm in Missouri that serves as a “kickstarter for emerging family farms, as well as a safety net for farms in the wake of a disaster (flood, fire and disease).”
Davaillon won the regional round with an assortment of six bites that spoke soulfully of his native Loire Valley and the gastronomical beating heart of a country that lives and dies by charcuterie. Artfully arranged on a plate: paté en croute (country paté in pastry), pied de cochon farci (stuffed pig’s trotters with morels and hazelnuts), rillon comme chez moi (rendered pork belly on levain bread), bouillon de cochon (pork broth-chestnut soup served with rillettes), choucroute fumée (smoked hock and sauerkraut with foie gras cream), and a savory-sweet tarte boudin noir (pork blood tart with apple-mustard jelly).
In keeping with the event’s focus, Chubby Dog Farm, which provided the whole Hereford-Mangalitsa Cross pig from which every morsel was made, was equal partner. Stephan Garcia, head bartender at Bullion, also took home the Punch Kings spirits award.
Davaillon’s next stop is the Grand Cochon competition in Chicago, where he will represent Dallas in September.
For more photos of the event, click here. Yes, that is a handsaw and chainmail glove. Yes, that is liquid nitrogen. And yes, the crust of that paté en croute is garnished with pastry cut-outs of little piggies. That’s how you do it.
Also, I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: if you haven’t been heading to Macellaio and Bullion for charcuterie, you’re missing some of the greatest skill in Dallas.
