Eye Candy: Salt Pork–Rabbit Stew with Root Vegetable Gnudi and Preserved Lemon

Tennessee native Trey Cioccia is no stranger to incorporating the farm-to-table ethos into fine dining, sourcing produce from his family’s garden at his Farm House restaurant. For his recent festive holiday dinner, Cioccia treated Beard House diners to the same sensibility that his Nashville hot spot is known for with inventive takes on homespun classics. Palates were delighted with dishes like Cioccia’s pigs’ tail jam with black pepper–honey butter on crispy johnnycakes and his fanciful, savory dessert featuring a pork rind cone topped with brown sugar ice cream, sweet potato mascarpone, shallot confit, crystallized ginger, and fried sage. A true fan favorite of the evening was the salt pork–rabbit stew with tender root vegetable gnudi, earthy parsnips, sweet butternut squash, celery root tops, and tangy preserved lemon. Rustic flavors met elevated technique in this comforting bowl of Southern cuisine—the perfect way to welcome the winter weather. 

View this event's menu and details here. For upcoming Beard House dinners, check out our events calendar. Photo by Jeffrey Gurwin​.

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Hilary Deutsch is editorial assistant at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Instagram.