Anthony Bourdain loved his rich dishes of pork, lobster and foie gras – Martin Picard’s recipes of excess and indulgence
- In cookbook Au Pied de Cochon – The Album, Picard celebrates nose-to-tail cuisine, cooking Anthony Bourdain paid tribute to in an episode of No Reservations
- Among his most indulgent dishes are foie gras poutine, pig’s feet, lamb shank confit, lobster roll, stuffed pig’s stomach and pickled venison tongue
Meat-eating foodies have been enamoured of Martin Picard’s Au Pied de Cochon ever since the restaurant opened in 2001, in Montreal, Canada.
Even before Anthony Bourdain visited it in 2006 for an episode of No Reservations, the restaurant was famous for its unabashed excess, which seemed to include putting foie gras in just about every place where it might possibly fit.
A Canadian friend told me about visiting the restaurant and clashing forks with her husband as each one tried to get the last bite of the famous foie gras poutine, then feeling sick to her stomach afterwards, because the food, while delicious, was so rich.
Obviously, it is not a place for vegetarians – and neither is the book, Au Pied de Cochon – The Album (2006). On the same page as a recipe for shanks or feet or head you’ll find a line drawing of a farm animal – mostly pigs – with the corresponding extremity missing.
There are sketches and photos of bacchanalian scenes of the dining room, with diners – wine glasses in hand – looking greedily at plates piled high with food. Other photos include pigs’ heads being simmered in an enormous pot, animals being processed and carcasses hanging in a meat fridge.
In the introduction, Bourdain, who died in 2018, writes, “[Martin Picard’s] restaurant, Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, is a celebration, an ode to all things porky, ducky, fatty and wonderful. A return to the hearth where all of us learned to cook – a place where, through the careful application of heat, magical things happen.