Piglet Report on Cochon 555

Sunday was the big Cochon 555 event, featuring five pigs, five chefs, and five winemakers. Hundreds of pounds of pork available for eating, and we think we're still digesting some of it. With most of our blood away from the brains and instead the stomach, we present this rambling "piglet" recap of the porkfest. (Check Gastrolust for the full pig report, coming by Thursday.)

1. Did we mention there was a lot of pig? Before the doors even officially opened, Adam Stevenson of Earth & Ocean set us up with a five-piece skewer to do a comparative pig-tasting.

2. Pigs provided by Whistling Train, Good, Holthaus, and Newman Farms prove that happy pigs are tasty pigs.

3. Chefs Matt Dillon, John Sundstrom, Jason Wilson, Tamara Murphy, and Anthony Hubbard served up some amazing dishes, utilizing the animals from brain-to-butt.

4. Even sweets are good when pig-infused. Xocolatl de David provided porky popcorn and pig blood chocolate, but the sweetest treat was Jason Wilson's smoked bacon macaroon with bacon powder.

5. Our favorite dish: Matt Dillon's stinging nettle soup, with the double-stock of pig broth poured over raw kidneys and hearts.

6. Anthony Hubbard won the "prince of porc" crown, though the result in the judges' room, where a panel of 20 chefs and other culinary types (including this Seattlester) contributed toward 49% of the overall vote, showed an entirely different outcome.

7. Pork reaffirmed as fabulous eating, but a lot of people saying it'll be salads only for a few days afterward.