Warren County native Andrew Deason is putting himself on the map after winning a prestigious cooking contest sponsored by the Tennessee Pork Producers Association for the second time.
Deason won “The Taste of Elegance,” a competition held annually that is open to restaurant owners by invitation only. Five Senses Restaurant, where Deason is a chef, has been invited to compete for the past four years.
“The owner of Five Senses has selected me to represent the restaurant for the last three years,” said Deason. “I won in 2013. I didn’t win last year, but I did get a best presentation award.”
The grand prize is always the same. Both 2013 and 2015 wins netted Deason $1,000 and a four-day trip to Napa Valley, Calif., to train at the Culinary Institute of America.
For the first year, he prepared a local sorghum and Jack Daniels Whiskey rack of pork stuffed with fig chutney as the competition encourages the use of local ingredients. Year two, he prepared a variation of that dish, which did not win.
This year, Deason prepared a dish he called “Three Little Pigs.” It contained:
• Pork tenderloin marinated in aged prosciutto. It was served on top of mashed potatoes and covered with cider-sage cream;
• Pork belly in vacuum-sealed bag with 100 percent maple syrup, black pepper corn and onion. After cooking in a Dutch oven for approximately 10 hours, it was sliced and seared. It was served with dehydrated pig skin that was stripped, fried in lard and mixed with Granny Smith apples and maple syrup from the pork belly.
• A “waste not mouse” that used what remained of the pork belly and pork tenderloin from the first two recipes. After smoking the porks, they were placed in a food processor with local maudite red ale and some fresh greens. Processing causes the mixture to foam up into a mousse. It was served in small bowls and topped with goat cheese, sage and brown sugar.
Deason says a desire to return to the Culinary Institute of America pushed him to excel this year.
“When I looked back at 2013, I liked what I did,” he said. “In 2014, I did something similar to 2013. So, this year I spent the week before the competition doing a lot of cooking. I did a lot of trial and error. I did a lot of smoking, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. I put a lot of time into this. The reason I put so much into this year is because I knew what I won the first year. I really wanted to win it again. The trip to Napa and the Culinary Institute is amazing. I wanted to go back.”
Deason’s cooking skills may come as no surprise. The son of Kevin and Angie Deason, Andrew grew up learning to cook in his parent’s restaurants, Angie’s Lunchbox and the restaurant inside Viola Valley Country Store.
Five Senses Restaurant will serve a rendition of Andrew’s winning pork dish for a limited time. The restaurant is located in Georgetown Plaza, 1602 West Northfield Blvd., Suite 515 in Murfreesboro.
Deason wins cooking competition
