Pork Congress 2012 - Iowa Pork Producers Association

IPPA co-sponsors first-ever Sacramento Taste
of Elegance
The Iowa Pork Producers Association, along with the
Missouri and California pork producers, sponsored the
first-ever Taste of Elegance event in Sacramento, Calif.,
in December. The contest was held on Dec. 6 at the
DoubleTree Sacramento.
The event was unique in that it allowed culinary
students to compete in the contest as well as chefs.
Three Sacramento-area culinary school students took
advantage of the opportunity and nine chefs from
various Sacramento-area restaurants also competed.
“The IPPA Restaurant & Foodservice Committee
had been looking for a market on the west coast
to sponsor a Taste of Elegance competition and so
this was a great opportunity to partner with the
Missouri Pork Association and the California Pork
Producers Association and promote pork in California
restaurants,” said IPPA Marketing & Programs Director
Alison Swanson.
honors. Second place went to Chef Alessandra Pichardo
of the Institute of Technology in Citrus Heights, Calif.,
and 3 rd place was awarded to Jimmy Morales, a student
at the Art Institute of California, Sunnyvale. Pichardo
also won the People’s Choice Award.
“Overall, we were very pleased with how the Taste of
Elegance event went in Sacramento,” said Swanson. “I
was pulled in as a judge at the last minute and I can tell
you that it wasn’t an easy job. I was impressed to find
out that West Coast chefs knew how to cook pork just as
well as chefs in the Midwest.”
IPPA Restaurant & Foodservice Committee members
Grace Evans and Linda Madison
also attended the event.
Chef Molly Hawks took 1 st place honors and was named
Chef Par Excellence with her “Duo of Pork” entrée. The
dish consisted of charred tenderloin and house smoked
pork shoulder, Italian butter beans and broccoli rabe.
Hawks owns “Hawks,” a restaurant in Granite Bay, Calif.
She also won a place in the 2012 Pork Summit that will
be held this spring at the Culinary Institute of America
in St. Helena, Calif. The event is sponsored by the
National Pork Board.
Second place, or Superior Chef, went to Chef Clay
Purcell with his “Pork and Beans ‘Italian Sausage’
Cassoulet.” Purcell is employed with the Tower Bridge
Bistro in Sacramento.
The title of Premier Chef was awarded to Chef Adam
Pechal of Restaurant Thir13en in Sacramento. Pechal
placed with his “Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with
Butternut Squash — Potato Gratin, Caramelized
Brussels Sprouts and Pomegranate Gastrique.”
The three competing culinary students also were judged
and awarded placement. Chef Michael Ambriz, Jr. from
the Art Institute of California, Sacramento took 1 st place
20 March 2012