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Chefs Whip Up Pork Dishes at Charity PigOut

The PigOut event at Newport Dunes raised about $10,000 for students dreaming of pursuing a career in the culinary arts.

Foodies pigged out over the weekend in Newport Beach on an assortment of pork dishes made from the hands of Orange County's most talented chefs, all for a good cause.

The inaugural took place at on Sunday. Hosted by Bobby Navarro, founder of the foodie blog 100eats100days.com, and Chef Amar Santana of Laguna Beach's Broadway by Amar Santana, the PigOut raised about $10,000 for underprivileged young people who have an interest in the culinary arts.

"I couldn't get into the programs I was looking for in hospitality/restaurant management so I decided to visit 100 restaurants in 100 days and that's how I met all these great chefs," Navarro explained of his blog. "And then I was in a position to help other people with their culinary dreams. There's people who want to learn, but can't afford to."

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To raise the money for the aspiring chefs, 12 top Orange County chefs executed their top pork dishes for foodie fans. The pigs were prepared in unusual ways with creative presentation. Chef Matt Molina, of Newport's, whipped up pig ears with gourmet dipping sauces for the guests.  

"Pig ears are something that get overlooked. When you are cooking a pig, you have to think nose to tail, ears tend to get scrap," Molina explained. "In our restaurant, we serve everything."

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"It's a super old-school Italian method of roasting pig," Chef Jonathan Blackboard of Newport Beach's A Restaurant said of his pork dish. He said A Restaurant plans to start serving a whole pork rack this week.

Chef Alessandro Pirozzi of Laguna's recently opened Mare Culinary Lounge created a foie gras dish, which included pork tenderloin with prosciutto and zucchini mousse drizzled in a black camembert and pork reduction sauce.

How were they able to serve foie gras, which has been outlawed in California? Pirozzi joked that he would go to jail just to prepare the dish, but said, "since we don't sell it, it's okay."

Other piggly delights included pig's feet and ham hock cake with alsatian potato salad from Chef Yves Goetz of The Winery Restaurant in Tustin; braised pork shoulder from Haven Gastropub in Orange; pork belly banh mi sandwiches from Chef Ryan Adams of Laguna's ; and blood sausage drizzled with a parsley pesto sauce from Chef Ryan Wilson and Chef Greg Harrison of Corona del Mar's . 

"I've got pork six ways on two different tacos," said Chef Deborah Schneider of Newport's SOL Cocina. "I could just roll around and bathe in this stuff. I'm going to have to boil this stuff off when I get home and leave a greasy ring around the tub."

The money raised at the PigOut will benefit Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, a non-profit which provides support for public school students wishing to pursue a career in the culinary arts. C-CAP currently serves more than 12,000 students across the country in 165 different schools and award 52 scholarships every year. On Sunday the aspiring chefs attended the PigOut to help their mentors with set up and food preparation. C-CAP officials say the event was a great way for the students to get real world experience.

"They see the outside world, the world they want to get into," said Mitzy Cutler, C-CAP program director. "We go into the classrooms, have training sessions for the students with chefs. We awarded almost $600,000 in scholarships last year."

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