Mount Vernon's Lincoln Cafe chef still 'Prince of Porc'

Matt Steigerwald, owner and chef of the Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon, has retained his title as the Midwest region's “Prince of Porc” after winning the Cochon 555 competition for the second straight year.

The Midwest regional was held April 24 at the Hotel Fort Des Moines in Des Moines. Cochon means "pig" in French. The competition features five chefs, five pigs and five winemakers in 10 cities. The chefs are challenged to use a whole pig to create a series of dishes.

Some of the items Steigerwald made were pig's head soup with boiled peanuts and greens, pork belly spring roll with house made kimchii (Korean pickled cabbage), boudin blanc (french white sausage with white wine, mustard and fennel sauerkraut) and smoked pork shoulder sopes (open-faced tortillas) with orange black beans and pickled chilies.

The winners of each city will compete at Grand Cochon during the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colo., on June 18-22.

“I'm excited about going (to Aspen),” Steigerwald says. “It will be a lot of fun, and we hope to put Mount Vernon on the map.”