I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll take a quote directly from Cochon555′s website to describe the event. After viewing my blog, make sure you give them a visit; maybe they have an event near you.
On Saturday, August 25th, Cochon Heritage Fire, the second largest COCHON 555 event, will again celebrate heritage breed animals and produce ranging from goats, lamb, pig, rabbit, foraged mushrooms, truffles and wild birds. The fourth annual event spotlights wood-fired whole animal theatre cooking, butchering, family-owned wineries, artisan foods, craft beers and spirits. The River Terrace Hotel in wine country sets a stunning stage for this years event. Guests will spend their afternoon nestled up against the vines running along the banks of the Oxbow River in the heart of Napa Valley minutes away from the glory of downtown. A special event celebrating our heritage should not be missed, over 14 chefs make it feel national but the flavor is local.
I couldn’t have said it better. I took over 500 hundred pictures during the event, but no worries, I’ll edit them down a bit. I’ll actually post to this blog over the next few days, so make sure you come back to see new pictures.
Here are all those chefs Cochon 555 mentioned. Once I post all my pictures, you’ll be able to name most of them.
Wood-fired whole animal theatre cooking. If you’re thinking it looks cool, it totally was!
There was a nice selection of wines, craft beer, and spirits.
From here on, I’ll just introduce each chef and the dish they prepared.
It really was enjoyable to watch these chefs in action. Here’s Host Chef Jordan Mackey of Restaurant Cuvee preparing his Preserved Lemon Moroccan Lamb.
He served the lamb on naan bread with cilantro, mint, and…well, you can read the menu. I know you want to see the final dish, but I do not have a picture. I ate the first ones I got and when I went back for more, they were all gone. That’s how popular it was. You’ll just have to take my word that it looked gorgeous and was totally delicious. You could taste all the layers of flavor that the Chef Mackey put together.
Andrew Zimmerman – Sepia, Chicago
Andrew Zimmerman Executive Chef of Sepia, came all the way from Chicago to prepare his Jerk Goat.
Just look at that goat; it wasn’t too long after I took this picture that they took it down and butchered it in preparation for the dish.
You can see by the menu that Chef Zimmerman prepared Jerk Goat with a Spicy Peach Ketchup and Johnny Cakes. The chef said he got the peaches from the Farmer’s Market just that morning.
Of course I got a picture of the Jerk Goat and let me tell you that you haven’t had goat until you’ve had this goat. I’m a believer.
I should mention that Chef Zimmerman will be taking on Iron Chef Forgione this Sunday, my DVR is already set.
Oh, what about the smoked lamb & garlic sausage? Yeah, I ate it before taking the picture, it’s a bad habit. But man was it good!
The plancha was shared throughout the day by a variety of chefs to create their dishes. Chef Estes found a corner to cook up some Black Pig Bacon while the rest of her family checked up on their lamb.
Bacon and fig – what a beautiful combination. If you’ve never tried it then run out and get some figs, wrap ‘em up, and toss on the grill.
It was a family affair getting the lamb ready the dish.
Just look at that lamb! I really just wanted to snatch up that bone and gnaw it, but I do have some manners.
I did manage to take a picture before I ate their offerings, although it was very tempting to eat first and hope there was more later to take a picture. Is that a gorgeous looking dish, or what?!
The yogurt had cucumber in it which came from the garden at zazu restaurant + farm. The pita chips were freshly made and sprinkled with zazumac!
The lamb alone was tasty, but when eaten with the cucumber yogurt on top of the pita chip, it was just wonderful. The freshness of the cucumber really came through, the tenderness of the lamb and crunch of the chip made for some perfect bites.
Heritage Fire wasn’t just about animals that could walk. The folks from The Whole Beast cooked up two – 25 pound California Chinook Salmon.
All I can really say about this one is that it was one heck of a gnarly looking fish.
But man oh man, did it taste good. The salmon was glazed with a Vietnamese black pepper, carmel sauce made with Red Boat 40N Fish Sauce. Served with green papaya, white peach, and green mango salad.
Chef Patrick Clark from The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone preparing barbecued oysters.
That’s a gorgeous oyster. But I enjoyed the Tuscan style beef sushi a lot more.
Freshly minced beef with a drizzle of olive oil, I’m not sure how many of these I had. They were so fresh tasting and I just loved the texture of the beef.
The CIA and Team Toast shared the same grille and space so I’ll tell you about them next.
Team Toast
Team Toast? Yup, that’s what they did, they made toast. Three types, check out the menu. Here he’s making Old Fashioned Cinnamon Toast, and it really was satisfying as a dessert.
They were very popular especially since they used fresh ingredients for the toppings.
Just check out the tomatoes, garlic, and basil for the bruschetta.
It’s really no wonder that as soon as they put out a tray, it was all gone.
People snatched up that toast so fast that it really was difficult to get a picture.
Whew, well that’s a lot of good food so far, but you know I’m not done yet.
The King Of Mushrooms
Every black speck you see is truffle!
This pig was tender and moist; every plate was served with a piece of skin and bits of truffle.
While we were watching the pig getting cut up, they passed out bits of the skin and pieces of black truffle that were drenched in pig.
Not since I’ve seen the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel have I seen such a divine image.
Chef Wiss prepared rabbit three different ways. Her first preparation being in that pot. Now, for those of you who know me, you know that I still don’t take notes and in this case I really should have. I figured I would just take pictures of all the menus and I would remember everything, that is not the case here. Chef Wiss, please do not take offense, you know how much food was served that day and how I must have been on sensory overload.
This is the Rabbit Roulade and you can see from the menu that it was rabbit with pancetta, mortadella, then wrapped with bread from Model Bakery and then wrapped with prosciutto! Holy cow!
But wait! There’s more!
Roasted rabbit legs! I did not know how tasty rabbit was until after having one of these.
I had to show you one more picture of the roasted rabbit. I just love the detail of the lacing. I really want to know what blend of seasoning Chef Wiss used on that rabbit.
Believe it or not, I have more pictures to post. I know! It almost seems impossible to have all this food in one afternoon, but it’s true, it really did happen. I still have more to show you, but I’m going to take a break. So come back again, okay?
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I’ve been to the Fatted Calf plenty of times and have taken several classes on charcuterie, but this is my first time going for Happy Hour.
They make breaking down a hog look so easy.
I know you’re probably wondering what these wonderful bites are, but sadly I did not take notes. That’s really a bad habit of mine, not taking notes. I suppose if I’m going to have a blog, then I really should bring a note pad.
See those shoulder chops? Those are the ones I brought home along with a bunch of other meaty goodness. You know what? Along with taking notes of what I eat, it would also be nice if I wrote down some names too, wouldn’t it?
This picture does look a bit macabre, but it’s my favorite.
The 
