Best Pig Island Yet: Event Recap
Thank you for celebrating the 10th Annual Pig Island NYC! We could not have asked for a more beautiful day on the Red Hook waterfront. We believe it was our best Pig Island ever thanks to the delicious porcine dishes prepared by 20 chefs, flavorful craft beers, ciders, and spirits, live music, and of course, the energy and enthusiasm that all our guests bring to the event!
Photos by Paul Cheney @pecheney
Pig Island Prizes
The Josh Ozersky Memorial Award – AKA Best in Show
Thomas Perone, The Pig Guy, New York
Smoked Chorizo stuffed with provolone and topped with pickled shallots and a chimichurri aoili
Judge Adam Poch says: “This dish just hit every note – it was savory, sweet, spicy, the casing had a great ‘snap’ – it was the perfect bite to showcase the pig.”
Photo by Paul Cheney @pecheney
The Whole Hog – AKA Best Use of the Whole Pig
Tank Jackson, Holy City Hogs, Charleston, SC
Tank prepared a pure-bred Ossabaw Island Pig, which he calls “one of the oldest and tastiest pigs in the world,” accompanied by collard greens.
Judge Adam Poch says: “This pig is over 40% fat – and that’s where the flavor comes from – this pig was literally dripping with flavor.”
Photo by Paul Cheney @pecheney
Prime 6 Charcoal Pit Boss Boss – AKA Best Charcoal Dish
John Fuchs and Vinny Ferrante, Red Hook Raiders, FDNY
Slow Braised Ribs finished on the grill with homemade BBQ sauce, and topped with pickled jalepenos and cilantro
Pig Island is proud to partner with Friends of Firefighters, a non-profit providing counseling and wellness services to the FDNY and their families.
Photo by Patricia Brown @pattyybrown
The Ingenious Pig – AKA Most Creative Dish
Roxanne Spruance, “The Butcher,” New York
Vietnamese Larb: A Southeast Asian salad that’s made with pork shoulder and veggies, then seasoned with cilantro, mint, and a ton of fish sauce
You Look Mahvelous – AKA Best Presentation
Carl Ruiz and Mario Chape, La Cubana, New York featuring Smokey Boys BBQ and New England Meat Company
Puecro a ló Cubano: A whole rotisserie hog wrapped in bacon
Bad to the Bone – AKA Best Rib
Rob Cho, Kimchi Smoke Barbecue, New Jersey
Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Memphis style dry rub topped with gochujang glaze, sesame seeds, and scallions.
Tacoriffic – AKA Best Taco
Billy Kooper, Route 66 Smokehouse, New York
Gringo Taco: Asian bbq sauce, cucumber, slaw, salsa verde, hard shell
Rookie of the Year – AKA Best First Time Participant
Matthew Worgul, Gentle Giant Barbecue, New York
Half Pig Porchetta wrapped in our house-cured bacon
When Pigs Fly – AKA Long Distance Award, Best Dish by Non-New Yorker
Phil Wingo, PorkMafia, Chicago, IL
Whole Hog BBQ with cole slaw
Pig Impact Award – AKA Making a Difference Through Food
Mike Petrovitch, Que Chevere, New York
Roasted Pernil: A Puerto Rican style roast pork shoulder with rice and pigeon peas
Judge Adam Poch Says: “They are donating some of their proceeds to Austism Speaks – bridging the gap between old school home recipes and helping the community.“
Thank You to All of the Chefs who Participated in Pig Island NYC
Jason Fox, Hudson and Charles, New York
The Foxy Burger: Sliders with ground beef, ground pork, and ground bacon, topped with kimchi, bacon aoli, and sliced bacon
Jesse Jones, “POW! My Life in 40 Feasts”
Apple Cider Brined Half Hog and buttermilk yeast biscuits topped with apple butter mustard and pickled slaw.
Danny Mena of La Loncheria, New York
Puerco Ahumado: Marinated yucatecan smoked pork shoulder tacos and a side of bacon
Humberto Guallpa, Freemans Restaurant, New York
Freemans Hog with poblano-tomatillo, bean sauce
Cenobio Canalizo and Eric Springer, Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue, New York
Pulled Pork Tacos with grilled pineapple in salsa verde
Jeff Lutonsky and Meghan Love, Mable’s Smokehouse, New York
Pulled Pork Bacon Cups: A little cup made out of bacon with a moist bite of pulled pork and a dollop of sauce.
Jase Franklyn, Jase BBQ, New York
BBQ Pigtail with jerk pork and ribs
David Nevarro, Mothers Ruin, New York
Mixiotes de Puerco: Tacos with corn tortillas and nopales, a Mexican cactus.
Photo by Patricia Brown @pattyybrown
Other Featured Food
Nueske’s Bacon and Sausage, Wisconsin
Grilled Vegetables, Just Add Beer Sauce
Cabot Cheese
Rocket Fuel Hot Sauce
Roni-Sue’s Chocolate Covered Bacon
Ritter Sport Chocolate
Featured Farm
Flying Pigs Farm, Washington County NY and Others
Beverages:
Craft Beer, Featuring Sixpoint Brewery and Singha Beer
Hard Cider, Featuring Indian Ladder Farms, Kings Highway Fine Cider and Austin Eastcider
Wine: Tussock Jumper
Spirits, Featuring Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch, Kilbeggan Traditional Irish Whiskey, NY Distilling, ESP Gins, and Olde New York Farm Distillery
Celebrity Judges
Jean-Paul Bourgeois
Dara Pollak
Nick Solares
Adam Poch
Jill Rittymanee
Gennaro Pecchia
Ethan Fedida
William ‘Brimstone” Kucmierowski
Steve ‘Zambo’ Zambito
Keep Reading
From Food Karma
Check out chef interviews leading up to Pig Island with Tank Jackson of Holy City Hogs, Meghan Love of Mable’s Smokehouse, and Roxanne Spruance of The Butcher!
On Beer Sessions Radio
Hear from Pig Island chefs Danny Mena of La Lonchería and Cenobio Canalizo of Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue, and spirits importer Arik Torren of Fidencio Mezcal on Beer Sessions Radio with Jimmy Carbone.Listen here.
From Jimmy Carbone on CulEpi
Sustainable Alternatives to the Big, Bad Meat Biz: Some Facts You May Not Know. Read it here.
Next Up from the Creators of Pig Island: Pastrami on Rye on October 16
Sample the world of rye with rye whiskey, farm beers, breads, and kosher barbecue at Food Karma’s featured event of NY Rye Week! This all-inclusive event will dive into the intersection between rye used in whiskey, beer, and bread! What better way to showcase rye grains, bread, and whiskey in NYC than pastrami on rye?
Get Tickets Here
More About Pig Island NYC
How did it all start?
Pig Island was conceived after Jimmy Carbone and Josh Ozersky teamed up to produce Meatopia 2010. While Meatopia has since developed into an international food festival, Food Karma sought to embrace the burgeoning farm-to-table movement and support sustainable practices. This is how Pig IslandNYC was born.
By providing NYC Chefs with pigs purchased directly from small farms, PigIsland aims to educate consumers and serve delicious food! This year PigIsland is proud to source from Flying Pigs Farm in Washington County, NY.
In the 10 years since Pig Island was founded, Jimmy has worked to uphold the original vision for Pig Island, expanding the event’s reach, growing relationships with more farms and chefs, working with community partners like Friends of Firefighters, and creating the I Like Pig cookbook. For the 10th anniversary of Pig Island, we would like to honor Josh Ozersky, whose passion and creativity continue to inspire this event.
I Like Pig Cookbook
Jimmy Carbone, the producer of PigIsland, NYC teamed up with James Beard Award winning cookbook author Rachel Wharton to create a cookbook full of porcine goodness. Every year dozens of chefs come together and celebrate the agricultural bounty of the tri-state area at Pig Island. I Like Pig serves up some of the most popular recipes from the first four years of PigIsland.
Download the eBook here for $1.99