A couple months ago, at the Hogs For the Cause press conference, I was eating some amazing pork products and talking to Rene Loupre (co-founder of Hogs) about the gala dinner that some of the finest chefs in the region (known as the Fatback Collective) would be putting together an Argentinean-style asado dinner of MANY meats and fishes. It would be EPIC, I was assured. Emphatically.
However, it was $300 per person, which... was too rich for my blood, even for charity. And I didn't want to go alone, so it would be $600 to attend. No matter how epic, I would be sitting this one out. (I'm not sure why I am not being paid to attend these things due to my general awesomeness on a daily basis.)
Happily, toward the end of February, I was alerted by Rene that the ticket prices for folks under 40 (YES! Just squeaked by!) were half price for a limited time. That appeared to be just rich enough for my blood, and I got 2 tickets. A bit of a splurge, but it was for a good cause and I had good reason to believe it would be worth it.
Come Friday night, I was ready to eat some delicious meat!
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Porcelain Porcine Greeter |
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Festive party goers |
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The gala table |
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There were also auctions! |
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Animals on a spit over an open flame |
Once we got to our table, we were greeted by delicious hors d'oerves like pimento cheese, charcuterie, chicken livers
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Magic Table 23 |
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Snacks - IT'S A TRAP! (I know now after all the food in the near future.) |
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Ham in aspic |
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stuffed burlap pig & Tom, sitting in a tree... |
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Adorbs! |
Ended up sitting with the vinter and distributors of the wines (Neat Wines) which was fun. The first course was fish - it was on the bone and freaking delicious. There was tarragon and general awesomeness. After that the chicken arrived.
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Feasting! |
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Cochon wine! |
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Beer (from NOLA Brewing), wine, and general merriment |
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OK, the fish looks a bit picked over here, but it was super delicious and served whole |
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Smoked/roasted chicken and delicious Brussels sprouts |
Then came the meat!
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Goat! Goat cheese! Beets! |
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Beef shortribs |
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Some of the best lamb I've ever had |
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Pulled pork and coleslaw |
Everything was incredibly delicious, tender, and flavorful. It was so good that I wished I could add another stomach or take home a doggy bag or something. As it was, I filled up way too fast. But then dessert came: fruit handpies and... Jello shots?
Both were DELICIOUS.
I took a little walk and laid eyes on the most beautiful sight:
Flasks of to-go cocktails! Provided by Cure (who also created the pre-dinner "Hogtails") called "One For My Piggy & One For the Road" with bourbon, rye, and deliciousness. Salut!
In conclusion, it was as epic as promised. And I had to go to sleep and get up and go judge several categories of pork the next day. To be continued...
I meant to ask you if you'd seen the Game of Brews blog - similar to the Inn at the Crossroads blog - it goes for recreations of historical drinks and fictional drinks - concentrating on things in GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire books:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gameofbrews.com/
On topic: love the burlap piggie. Adorable!