Salut hosts 'Tour de Cochon'

Inspired by a rare breed of pig and a Toulouse-Lautrec painting, last week’s “Tour de Cochon” transported Salut diners to a feast of yore. 

Bouquets of sunflowers, artichokes and herbs nodded over pickled radishes, cornichons and jars of course mustard. Complete strangers couldn’t help grinning at each other as they passed sumptuous platters of pork-inspired dishes down long, country-style tables set up in the Edina restaurant.

Tim McKee, winner of the 2009 award for Best Chef Midwest, wished out loud that someone would tip over their glass of red wine to complete his vision of the meal, which he prepared alongside C.J. Van Proosdy, Anthony Leonhardi, Adrienne Odom and Salut staff, including sous-chef Stephen Jones, who provided the “couchon.”

Tourgoers feasted on a 16-course meal prepared from two rare Mangalista pigs raised by Jones and his wife, Cristina Cruz-Jones, on Provenance Farms near Taylor’s Falls, WI. According to Jones, the pigs are raised mostly on pasture, eating only veggies and what they forage. In the winter, their diets are supplemented with grain, but they aren’t fed any corn.

Mangalistas are Hungarian pigs that were originally bred for their lard, which is said to taste more like duck fat than pork and is less saturated than normal pig fat. An animal geneticist in Hungary rescued the breed, which was at the brink of extinction, in 1991. Fewer than 20 farms now raise the rare pigs in the United States, including Provenance Farms, Herbfarm and La Provence. Many Mangalista farmers are chefs.

The legendary lard and flavorful meat were evident in each dish, from the velvety liver pate with Muscatel and juniper, to the melt-in-your mouth slow-roasted pork shoulder garnie with crepes aux fine herbs. Pate de Campagne with rabbit loin and pistachio was a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth, and the sheer beauty of the dishes enticed us to taste delicious blood sausage on focaccia (with fennel, apple and the best bacon I’ve ever tasted,) head cheese and even pig’s foot torchon with walnut oil, caramelized onion and mache, as not an ounce of the precious meat went to waste.

Of all the dishes, my companions and I agreed that the fresh sausage braised with apple brandy, poached apple and truffle and the juicy, flavorful roasted pork loin with herbs and baby peas, were two of our favorites. While the sausage dish was umami heaven, the loin showcased the true flavor of the Mangalista, which was rich and complex, but not overpowering.

Despite having eaten more than 16 pork dishes, I had no trouble polishing off Odom’s heavenly bacon-chocolate bostock (brioche bread-pudding) with toasted almond ice cream, a chocolate crisp and bacon toffee.

My husband and son love to watch the Tour de France each summer, but I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next time Tour de Cochon rolls through Edina.

Here are a few photos I snapped between bites.