The folks at the National Pork Council
consistently attempt to persuade Americans that pork really can stand up against beef (or in for it,
if you're doing the cooking).
Still, many American families often
don't get very far past that holiday ham or ribs on the grill when they think
"pork for dinner."
Like the national folks, Arizona's
Pork Council hopes to see pork on more dinner tables, and they know that one of
the best cuts for home use is pork shoulder - even though it might need a bit
more time with heat.
It has tons of flavor, lends itself
to multiple interpretations for the table and is also well-priced.
So when Jill Smith, CCAP Arizona's
director considered a culinary competition as part of the 2017 Summer Culinary
Lab experience, Tom Miller, executive director of Arizona's Pork Council, was
only too happy to assist.
"I've known Jill for some
years," Tom says, "and we've wanted to work more directly with CCAP
students for some time."
"The Pork Council provided
braised pork shoulder, and each chef was given a country to represent,"
says Jill.
Students, for the most part, were
not generally fully conversant with typical cooking in their assigned country;
and they needed to create an essentially different approach to a typical dish
or cooking style.
In other words, devising a dish
using pork shoulder wasn't enough. The recipe needed to be original, but
evocative of a particular national style, taste and presentation.
"There were some unique ideas
and (I thought) each was tasty in its own way," Tom says.
"And that made it challenging
to judge!"
Difficult as judging was, the top
three dishes were presented by Jared Witte, who took on Ethiopian cuisine; Ty
Wells, who interpreted classic Cuban food; and Christopher Burgos, who captured
third place with his presentation of a Swedish-inspired plate.
Other countries highlighted in the
braised pork competition were India, interpreted by Desiree Douthard; Korea,
presented by D'Nyjah French Muldrow; Daylon Bennett took on Thailand; Jennifer
Arrieta Cruz presented a festive Germ.an dinner; Juan Salgado developed a
seafood paella to showcase Spain.
Sonny Pham plated his interpretation of a Brazilian dish, while Connor
Millar took on the Philippines and Alexis Cox featured Japan in her dish.
"It's easy to see how
versatile pork is," Tom says.
"And I believe the Pork Council will be back to work with CCAP
again soon."
