Brooklyn Pig-Fest Exceeds All Expectations

Slow Food USA’s Pig-Fest on Saturday May 12 was a huge success. Staged in front of the loading docks at Brooklyn Brewery, NYC, it attracted members from all over the States, including a team of barbecue experts from North Carolina fully equipped with truckloads of massive custom-built cookers, blow torches and a mobile home! At the event, food cultures — from the Piedmont of North Carolina to the heart of Williamsburg Brooklyn — co-mingled, and over 475 New Yorkers turned up to taste for themselves. Many participants were surprised by the fact that every component of the event was sustainable — fromthe pork and the chicken to the bread from Bread Alone in upstate New York. The event also provided a great opportunity for Slow Food USA to highlight not only a greatAmerican regional cooking tradition, but also to support local restaurants (which donated beans and coleslaw) and bring further recognition to local beer culture. The cooks arrived in New York to a media reception which included articles in TimeOut and the NY Daily News and local radio coverage, and the barbecue itself was attended by CBS News, Country Living, Country Magazine, the NY Daily News, Epicurious.com, Fortune, Gourmet, House & Garden, Interview, Martha Stewart Living, NY Newsday, the New York Times, Saveur and Italian Radio 105. Stories in Fortune, NY Newsday and CBS News are also forthcoming. Incidentally, CBS is also planning to air a show on Slow Food (which will also include footage from Slow Food Iowa) on Sunday May 27, between 9.00 and10.30 am.‘Sloweek’ will shortly be publishing an article about this spectacular event by Betsy Pochoda, an editor at House and Garden.