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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MARCH | APRIL 2014
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).
locals
HELPING
locals
Hogs For the Cause
by
Brad Gottsegen +
photo courtesy
Hogs For the Cause
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.