Wine and cheese, why not try wine and pig?

A new food pairing taking the culinary world by storm is wine and pig. This year marks the fifth year for Cochon555, an event that highlights heritage pig breeds and family farms.

Attendees to the March Cochon555 event in the Seattle area, will be tasting five heritage pig breeds, cooked by five different chefs, along with wines from five different winemakers.

“It’s a feast,” founder Brady Lowe tells KIRO Radio’s Let’s Eat. “I think most predominantly it’s a celebration of great farmers and the bounty they pull together.”

Lowe says he began working a lot with wine and cheese and realized that producers put just as much care into raising an animal as they do caring for harvest produce in the field.

“Folks who bring these amazing pigs to pasture, and to the kitchens, they care about it,” says Lowe. “There’s this big story behind it.”

Before Cochon55 brought attention to heritage pig breeds, Lowe says it was a niche protein.

“When I started five years ago, heritage-rate pigs it was being served in restaurants but it wasn’t a confident table-side conversation like it is today,” says Lowe. “That’s what we’ve really found is the opportunity, is to really put confidence table-side, to put an appeal behind the breed and the species, and the movement, and really enforce the flavor benefits of supporting good, local agriculture.”

The event website says Cochon555 events provide attendees a direct link to the source of their food and a chance to learn from experts.

“I am passionate about increasing awareness of the sources that support a more natural, sustainable food system,” says Lowe.

Let’s Eat host Providence Cicero agrees knowing something about where your food comes from is a good thing.

“I think mindful eating is something we all could do a little more of,” says Providence.

The whole event is a contest, so you can be sure chefs are putting out their best. Attendees’ votes on best bites pick the winner, so you’re likely going to get some delicious tastes.

Seattleites will have the opportunity to taste the fare at Cochon555 at Cedarbrook Lodge March 17.

Let’s Eat can be heard on KIRO Radio Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at noon. Available anytime ON DEMAND at KIRO Radio.com.