When I first walked through the doors of the Hotel InterContinental Hotel I didn't realize what an experience I was actually in for. I picked up my ticket and my punch cup and headed upstairs. As I walked up the stairs I could hear the din rising, the sweet smell of pork wafting through the doors and then there it was, 400 people waiting to take in some of finest pork cuisine and punch from some of the best chefs and mixologist in Wisconsin.
The first question that almost everyone asks when they hear about the event is, "what is SloPig?". Well first and foremost, SloPig is the brainchild of Chef Dan Fox of The Madison Club and Chad Vogel of Maduro in Madison and according to their credo it's "a celebration of heritage pigs and craft cocktails". While this is a nice succinct answer, the event is so much more than that. The event, in addition to being a showcase for heritage pigs it is a competition between eight of the top chefs in Wisconsin and eight of the best craft cocktail creators and believe me, they take this VERY seriously.
I had the chance to talk to Chef Justin Aprahamian of Sanford Restaurant, the now two-time champion of SloPig about his experience and his plan for cooking for this event. Justin's approach was seemingly very different than the rest of the competitors in that he set up a multi course tasting menu that featured how versatile a heritage pig can be by not only cooking "nose to tail" but also having completely different dishes. He had a soup and ravioli in addition to having charcuterie and pork belly (a favorite among the crowd).
His unique approach and execution apparently led to a landslide victory and deservedly so. But, they were not alone in creating phenomenal bites of food. Some of my favorites included:
Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, Chef Dan Vin Rite, as they often do, created a group of incredibly creative and delicious bites for everyone involved. Their pork scrapple (I suggest you look it up) with a poached egg on top was one of the best dishes I've had in a long while
L'Etoile, Chef Tory Miller, their team had a dish that was so simple and delicious people were buzzing all over. A cream filled donut fried in pork fat with a citrusy creamy filling, did you hear me? A pork fat donut!!! This was so unbelievably delicious that they ran out before the end of the night to everyone's disappointment.
Braise, Chef Dave Swanson, this one I'm putting in just based on reviews, unfortunately it was so popular that I didn't get a chance to try much of their offerings.
In addition to the foods, the punches were also delicious and from what I gathered, potent. Micah Melton of The Aviary was voted the winner in that category but there were plenty of great contenders including Dan Grenda of Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub and Katie Rose of Butcher, Baker/Burnhearts. I would have included more details about the drinks but they were so complex and I drank too much of them to really recall too many of the details. It's the price you pay to participate!
I can honestly say that I was blown away by SloPig. While I have always held pork and heritage pigs in high esteem, the chefs took this to another level entirely. Also just out of curiosity I took both a pre-and-post SloPig weigh in. According to my scientific measurements, it appears I ate 4lbs of pork and if that's not the most glowing review of an event then I'm not sure what is!
John LaVelle
John LaVelle is a Milwaukee based "foodie" who is getting the most out of what Wisconsin has to offer. He is also the creator of The Best of Milwaukee Beer Dinners featuring Tess, Roots, Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, Rumpus Room, Three Floyds, Founders, Bells, Goose Island and Hinterland Brewing.
No comments:
Post a Comment