Meet the Contenders for the Fourth Annual Cochon 555

Last year's winner, Matt Jennings (left) plates chicharrons with chorizo pop rocks.

March 25 marks the fourth annual porkfest known as Cochon 555, a roving national event that pits five local chefs against one another in breaking down and preparing an entire heritage breed pig (the winner moves on to a national event).

Boston’s competition has been dominated over the past three years by Providence toque Matt Jennings of Farmstead and La Laiterie, but this year he will be leading a wine tasting at the event instead, which is good news for this year’s lineup of bigwigs: Barry Maiden (Hungry Mother), Barbara Lynch (Menton, No. 9 Park), Tim Cushman (o ya), Jamie Bissonnette (Toro, Coppa), and Steve “Nookie” Postal of Fenway Park (whose talents lie far beyond hot dogs and fries; he’s done time at restaurants including Oleana).

It all goes down at 5 p.m. on March 25 at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Back Bay. Those who can spring for the tickets ($125, gen. admission; $200, VIP entry) should be in for a treat—last year yielded the debut of bacon cotton candy from Mary Dumont (Harvest), as well as chorizo pop rocks (!!) from Jennings. Plus, we’re excited to see Tim Cushman step away from the haute fare at o ya and dive into a giant pig. Interested parties can purchase tickets here .

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