Portland Pig Cookoff Followed by Brawl Over Provenance of Pig

[grasswire]

A prestigious pig cook-off at the Governor Hotel Sunday night was followed by at least two head buttings and a fist-fight outside an Old Town strip joint. Portland police were called to break up the rumble, which sent a renowned chef and the event's organizer to jail after one had been pepper-sprayed and the other shot with a taser.

And it was all over a pig.

Eric Bechard, the heralded young chef behind Thistle in McMinnville, confronted Brady Lowe, the Atlanta-based organizer of Cochon 555, around 2 a.m., angrily denouncing his event for giving top marks to pork raised in Iowa.

"People need to support Oregon farmers and local business," Bechard told the Portland police officer who arrested him. He added that he thought it was "messed up" that the culinary show "would have guests from San Francisco and that a pig was brought all the way in from Iowa."

Lowe, who said he had a concussion and a fractured leg, was getting ready Tuesday to pick up a dressed pig from Sweet Briar Farms in Eugene for the next Cochon 555 scheduled Sunday in Seattle.

The promoter of heritage pork – antique breeds raised on small farms for epicures -- said the ruckus took the focus off good food, which was the point of the event.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/05/portland_pig_cook-off_followed.html
much more at link:

[The empressof all]

1. Damn they are in Seattle this Sunday

$125 bucks a person for a stand up tasting.....It sounds intriguing just to meet folks but awfully pricey! Tamara Murphy from Brasa is an incredible chef. I've enjoyed meals at her joint on several occasions.

People take their pig seriously....I wonder why they aren't all required to use local product?

[TreasonousBastard]

2. The meat of the article...

<...>
Jason French, owner of Ned Ludd, a Portland restaurant that also emphasizes all local food, said if anything he blames the melee on chefs, egos and lots of alcohol.

"If there's any question why things go down, you don't have to look past the amount of wine and booze flowin," he said. "It was a fun event that went bummer."