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Andy Ricker of Pok Pok in Porkland – er, Portland – went with a Red Wattle pig, saying, “In particular, we were looking for something that wasn’t too heavy and fat, so we have kind of a smaller big. The flavor’s really-really good. It’s a nice pig to work with.”

He and his team offered “Sai Ua Samun Phrai, which is a Chiang Mai sausage. And a fermented rib called Naem Sii Khrong Muu, which is similar to the sour pork roll that we deep-fry. The sausage has a bunch of aromatic herbs for a rally traditional Chiang Mai version of a sausage.” Why those dishes? “A couple reasons. It’s a pretty straightforward dish to make. It’s easy to ship, because we were in another state, and I think it really represents the cuisine we do pretty well. And I figured not a lot of other people here would be doing the same thing.”

Alex Seidel of Denver’s Fruition Restaurant used a barley-finished Berkshire pig from Iowa. “Of the last three pigs that I got, the ratio of fat to flesh was beautiful,” said Seidel. “The fat itself tasted very clean raw. It was white, firm. It was a quality pig.”

Seidel’s table had the longest line and the biggest variety of options, all charcuterie-driven. “Brady asked me to do charcuterie specifically,” said Seidel, who rattled off the different options. “We did dirty rice pate with black forbidden rice, pork liver mousse, kidneys, spleen, heart, wrapped in bacon. We did a prime pork tenderloin and fatback terrine. We did summer sausage. We did a head cheese terrine, and we also did a pork belly bologna, where the inlay of pork belly was braised in sheep’s milk. We actually have a farm south of Denver where we raise sheep and pigs, so we braised it in sheep’s milk and made bologna out of that. Michael Sullivan, the Reverend of Fat, brought a lot of his cured meats from Tennessee and that’s pretty much what we did. We also did pork rillettes with caper and white anchovy.”

John Stewart of Santa Rosa’s Zazu worked with wife and business partner Duskie Estes, recreating one of the dishes that helped them win Grand Cochon in Aspen. [he pointed to the plate] “This is a bacon waffle, so there’s bacon in the batter, there’s a bacon toffee. Instead of butter in the toffee, there’s bacon fat, and then we use bits of bacon inside that. Then I made a gelato where we substituted maple syrup instead of the sugar…It’s hot and cold and it’s sweet and it’s salty, and it hits everything all at once.

Stewart and Estes also sourced a walnut-finished Red Wattle pig from T.C. Gemmell in the Suisun Valley. “It’s primarily from West Texas, Hill Country, and it’s got this great fat,” he said. “It’s almost beef-like, the meat is red-red, and the fat is really white and it’s just very complex and delicious.”

John Sundstrom of Seattle’s Lark sourced a Hampshire pig from Jones Farm on Lopez Island, a “long black and white pig, really great marbling of fat.” The chef hadn’t worked with a Hampshire pig until earlier this year, leading up to Cochon 555 Seattle. “I just think it’s a really great balanced breed,” said Sundstrom. “I’ve used Mangalitsas, which are awesome, but in some ways, you have too much fat, so you’ve got good quality fat, good quality meat, just delicious.

And for the day’s dish? “We did a pork belly tarte tatin,” he said. “At my restaurant, we always do a dessert tarte tatin. It might be pineapple or quince or whatever, throughout the year. When I did this with pork belly a couple of years ago, at Cochon, it was a big hit, so pork belly tatin, ginger caramel sauce and a little spicy pineapple relish on top. And then over here we’ve got ice cream sandwiches with bacon oatmeal cookie, salted caramel ice cream and chicharrones.”

David Varley (Michael Mina Group)

The corporate chef for Michael Mina used a Duroc hybrid, “basically a Berkshire hog cross.”

Which dishes did Varley go with? “We’re doing a hamburger, basically a wet brined pork, basically putting honey-baked ham flavors into a burger [along with Iberico fat]. We’ve got Porkeo cookies [“Oreos” with rendered Iberico fat]. Mike Sullivan from Blackberry Farm gave me some lardo, so we shaved that and we’re serving that with Santa Monica Farmers Market melons. Delicious.”

Guests also had the opportunity to witness premium pig butchery on a pair of stages that bookended the ballroom, with Erika Nakamura and Amelia Posada of L.A.’s Lindy & Grundy working in lock-step with Michael “The Reverend of Fat” Sullivan, who flew in from Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm.

Joshua Applestone of New York’s Fleisher’s Meats worked alongside Ryan Farr from San Francisco’s 4505 Meats.

Oakland-based “vegetable prospector” Jeremy Fox” bypassed pork and “decided to be here for the vegetarians” by preparing oca, burying the exotic tuber in embers.

Note: All-Star Cochon supplied me with a complimentary Media pass, and The Cosmopolitan put me up, and put up with me, for two nights.