Instructors and Guest(s)

  Christoph Wiesner was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. He has been breeding and raising Mangalitsa hogs since 1999. Christoph was trained by Austria’s best butcher, Marcel Kropf, in animal slaughter and seam butchery. In 2004 he became president of Austria’s Mangalitsa Pig Breeder’s Union. At their farm in Göllersdorf, Arche De Wiskental, Christoph and Isabell breed rare, native Austrian farm animals, as well as local agricultural crops.

Isabell-Christina Zernitz-Wiesner attended the College for Occupation in Service Industries Management and studied at the University of Agriculture. She has been farming full time with Christoph since 2006 and organizes regular events at the farm, as well as handling the direct marketing of the farm’s produce.

Brian Polcyn is an award-winning chef and nationally recognized charcuterie expert. In addition to running two of Michigan’s best restaurants, he is also a chef instructor at Schoolcraft College in Livonia. He and Michael Ruhlman were co-authors of the 2005 book, Charcuterie, considered by many to be one of the most accessible books available on the topic. Both Brian and this book have been nominated for James Beard awards.

  Special Guest, Michael Ruhlman is a well known author, food blogger, cook and journalist whose mission is to translate the chef’s craft for every kitchen. He has authored or co- authored more than a dozen books about food and cooking, including Ruhlman’s Twenty, which won both a James Beard Foundation award and an IACP award.