MAR_APR_2014_FINAL_3-15-16

locals HELPING locals

Hogs For the Cause

by Brad Gottsegen + photo courtesy Hogs For the Cause

T eam Fleur de Que has learned a great deal over the years while competing in Hogs. The first year we entered, we tried to present a crown pork roast stuffed with grits and grillades. It was a delicious and fantastic looking dish, but we lost on presentation because it didn’t fit in a competition submission box. Go big or go home? We went home. Last year, we came in fourth place in the Grand Champion category (overall average for all individual categories) and did pretty darn well in whole hog, ribs, and butts — not bad for a bunch of “backyard” amateurs competing against some of the best chefs in the South! We mad geniuses created a “Porkpourri” dish consisting of a homemade savory waffle cone stuffed with hog’s head cheese grits, and topped with shaved pork belly and a poached quail egg. We served it in a beautiful pecky cypress box (that fit in the competition submission box).

I can’t divulge the nature of this year’s creative dish, but I assure you it will be similarly tongue-busting. We were first drawn to Hogs for the Cause because several organizing members have relatives that have faced the tremendous physical, emotional, and financial stresses of pediatric cancer. Although it typically doesn’t take much to inspire us to get together for great food and cold beer, the opportunity to do just that while, at the same time, raising money for such an important cause, has proven irresistible. Our team is like a fraternity, and everybody gets so into the spirit. Most of our members have been friends since childhood, our wives have all engaged in various fundraisers together across the metropolitan area, and we get our kids to come out to Hogs to help out, so the philanthropic spirit runs strong throughout the entire Team FDQ family.

The cooking, the cocktails, and the camaraderie are all a blast, and over the years we’ve made a lot of great new friends from other teams, but in the end, Hogs for the Cause is about raising money to help families in crisis get through an incredibly difficult time and, hopefully, win the battle against pediatric brain cancer. Our team members recently had a chance to meet some recipient families, which makes our efforts this year even more meaningful. We were very proud of our fourth place finish in the Grand Champion competition, but the award we really hang our hat on is Fundraising. In 2013, Team Fleur de Que took first place, with over $40,000 in donations. We fully expect to eclipse last year’s total in 2014 and retain the flaming pig trophy.

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MARCH | APRIL 2014