The Wednesday Wrap: Food News to Go

One Pricey Pig: Rebekah Denn profiles Heath Putnam, the sole US importer of the $25/pound European Mangalitsa (aka "Wooly Pig"), "a small, curly haired, super-fat porker that makes almost no sense for the typical American farmer to raise." (You can watch some very entertaining videos of Putnam's pigs in action on his website.) [Seattle PI]

Simply the Best: Last week Food & Wine revealed their lineup of the Best New Chefs in America. And it's been a very good month for Seattle's Ethan Stowell, who made the list, appeared on the TODAY Show in a hamburger cook-off, and was nominated for a James Beard Award. [Food & Wine]

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Chef!: Iron Chef fans will recognize the bespectacled Mark Ladner ("Clark Kent in the Kitchen") from Team Batali, but Meredith Bryan puts the spotlight on the executive chef of Del Posto with a terrific profile of "Batali's anti-Batali." [New York Observer via Eater]

Ramp Season: The smelly, wild, and gone-before-you-know it ramp  is one of the first signs of spring (I'm still on the hunt for them in Seattle farmers' markets and produce stalls; I keep getting told either "next week" or "good luck"). The Chicago Sun-Times and Gourmet both take a look at the "it" vegetable of the season. [Chicago Sun-Times, Gourmet]

Emerald Isle Eats: In the April issue of Travel + Leisure, Matt Lee and Ted Lee chronicle the culinary delights of Ireland's County Cork. [Travel + Leisure]

Bruni Beat: It's one star ("good") for Chop Suey, a Times Square restaurant "which mingles Korean and other Asian traditions... an uneven mash of inspiration and clumsiness."

--BTP