Pork to Fork

Edible Houston met with Mark Decker shortly after he won the Houston leg of Cochon555, to talk about the preparations leading up to this culinary competition, his admiration for the farmer who raised that Red Wattle and looking ahead to Grand Cochon.

EDIBLE HOUSTON: Did you choose the pig, or did the farmer? How did you plan and prepare?

MARK DECKER: The farmers select the pig. They know much more about that pig than I do. They look at the bone structure, the length of the back, how the hams and shoulders are filled out.

We got [the pig] 10 days in advance to put everyone on equal time frames. That puts some limits on preparations you can do. We did a lot of planning beforehand, did some testers and had a game plan. We considered having a theme running through, but I am glad we took the approach of really completely separate components.

If you missed Cochon555: The dishes served by Mark & Team were blood sausage egg rolls and Vietnamese pork belly; smoky “porkstrami” Ruben; Goan-style pork curry and biryani; Thai-style fermented pork skewerers; pibil pork stuffed cinnamon roll; a chicharron spread with liver mousse; and a Red Wattle Ricky cocktail with pork cheek- “washed” bourbon, Satsuma marmalade and salted barley soda.

EH: Have you visited the Barry Farm, which supplied your heritagebreed pig?

MD: I have been to the Barry Farm. Their approach is incredible. That is really something I think more farmers should do, or should be educated on.

EH: How is their approach incredible?

MD: Geoffrey and Renee do paddock shifts. They set up a small area and use electric fences to keep them in, which is extremely humane. The pigs touch it once and they realize: I can’t go there. Pigs are smart. The pigs have their own pasture where they can eat grass and bugs and stuff. They root around, find a wallow. Pigs don’t sweat, so they need to cool down somehow. And after a number of days, or when [the farmers] feel there is not enough edible product left they move them to the next paddock. They do the same thing with their lamb, sheep, and chickens. It is pasture land management, and the way to raise healthy animals.

EH: On to Grand Cochon. How will it be different from Cochon555?

MD: What I understand is: We pick three of the dishes that we did at Cochon555 Houston, and bring those. [At Grand Cochon] there are 10 chefs. They limit us to three. The judges can’t be asked to go through more than thirty dishes.