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DUCKATHLON IV "REDUCKS" D’Artagnan’s fourth annual Duckathlon made a big splash in New York City’s Meatpacking District a couple of Sundays ago. Originally conceived as a part of D’Artagnan’s weeklong 20th-anniversary celebration in 2005, the Duckathlon has become the “insiders” food event of the year. And by all indications from this year’s enthusiastic turnout, it’s an event that is here to stay—no ifs, ands or quacks about it. Headquartered at the Chelsea Market, Duckathlon IV brought together teams of chefs from far and wide (2 teams came all the way from France) and put them to the test in all sorts of events where they matched brains, brawn and, in some cases, just sheer boldness, all in the name of culinary competitive fun. Teams from many of the NYC area’s top restaurants, including Anissa, Le Bernardin, Cercle Rouge, Chanterelle, Craft, Daniel, The Frog and The Peach, Oceana, The Pluckemin Inn and Tribeca Grill were on hand to compete for prizes in a total of twenty gastronomical challenges that were set on a course throughout the Market and nearby restaurants in the Meatpacking District. Among this year’s events were: “Hot Dogs Are a Grill’s Best Friend,” where contestants sampled D’Artagnan’s new line of All-Natural Hot Dogs to determine what meat was used in each among beef, pork, buffalo and duck. “Wild and Crazy Fungi,” a test to match mushrooms to their Latin names. “Flipping Out with All-Clad,” a crepe tossing speed and precision contest. “The Shameless Carnivore Testicle Festival,” a very popular and difficult task of matching 8 pairs of testicles to the correct animals. Many thanks to Scott Gold, author of The Shameless Carnivore for keeping order in this one. “Mary Had a Little Pig, How Much Did it Weigh?” Guess the weight of a suckling pig. “Nice Flank!” the not-so-easy task of matching steaks to the primal cuts on a cattle chart. And the new-favorite: “The Saucisson Fan-Dangle,” in which a chosen team member won points for dunking a saucisson into a milk pail. The real challenge? It had to be done with the saucisson dangling from a rope tied around the waist, while wearing a hoopskirt over it. The teams also reconstitued a milk fed pig puzzle, identified sodas’ unusual ingredients (like dandelion and burdock), guessed the chronological age of artisanal cheeses from Bobolink Dairy, tasted Tariquet wines to identify their grapes varietals, speed-drank milkshakes (can you say “brain-freeze?”), tossed bread rings and sliced saucisson quickly while wearing oven mitts. Winners took home prizes of D’Artagnan products, All-Clad pans, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne, Tariquet wine and, of course, Duck Trophies crafted especially for the event by Fourth State Metals. D’Artagnan congratulates top prize winner Cercle Rouge for taking the day and with it the Gold Duck award, as well as the two runners up: Rickshaw Dumpling (Silver Duck) and Craftsteak (Bronze Duck). We also thank all the sponsors of this year’s Duckathlon for their participation and generous prize donations: Adishatz, Amy’s Bread, All-Clad, Badoit, Bagatelle, Baron Francois, Bobolink, Dairy & Bakeyard, Bowery Kitchen Supplies, Buon Italia, Chelsea Market Baskets, Chelsea Wine Vault, Cleaver Co./The Green Table, Craftsteak, Fig & Olive, Florent, Hogs and Heifers, Lollyphile, Meatpaper, Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne, Paradou, Robert Kacher Selections, Ronnybrook Milk Bar, The Shameless Carnivore and Random House, Spice Market, Tariquet, T Salon, and Volvic. Fore more news, pictures and video from the Duckathlon IV, check out the following blog posts: Gourmet.com Allnyblog.com Timeout.com Video from Mark Tafoya at ReMARKable™ Palate Crispyintheoutside.com Eater.com We look forward to bringing you DUCKATHLON V next May! Home | Club Log In | Privacy Policy | Contact Us D’Artagnan, Inc. 280 Wilson Avenue Newark, NJ, 07105 1-800 DARTAGNAN Ext. 0 (1-800-327-8246)