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What is the deal with bacon lately?Admittedly, it's not as if the delicious fruit of a smoked pig's belly was ever all that obscure; stlll, over the past few weeks, it has been gaining a fresh, and sometimes repulsive cultural relevance. A little over a month ago, Marisa McClellan covered The Bacon Explosion, a spicy, smoked, barbecue-basted brick of pure pork. Truth be told, the explosion is kind of like a bug zapper: terrifying and vaguely dangerous, yet attractive and deeply compelling. Worse yet, for those of us who don't have a meat smoker, the explosion's creators have put together an oven recipe.
As if this wasn't enough, over on RiffTrax Blog, Michael Nelson has announced his intention to eat nothing but bacon for an entire month. As he has struggled through February, a reader has produced a bacon effigy, dubbed FrankenBacon, to demonstrate the aftereffects of too much pork. For those of us who are sometimes haunted by the ghosts of our meat, FrankenBacon is actually a little scary.
Meanwhile, in my constant quest for the best boutique bonbons in New York City, I recently came across an article about Roni-Sue's Chocolates, a company in New York's Essex Street Market. Although Roni-Sue's carries a wide array of truffles and candies, I was immediately drawn to their pig candy. Basically crispy-fried bacon dipped in chocolate, this hearkens back to the sugar-crusted pig candy that my wife and I used to make.
Meanwhile, I'm getting that old carnival feeling--the same one I have when the halcyon call of the deep fryer draws me in with its promise of batter-fried Oreos and funnel cakes. Must...resist...the call...
Who am I kidding? I'll probably hit Roni-Sue's this weekend. On the bright side, maybe it will make it easier for me to resist the siren song of the Bacon Explosion!
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2-21-2009 @4:12PM Brittany (He Cooks She Cooks) said... Bacon is definitely all the rage right now, but we're on the boat too. My friends and I made Bacon Butterscotch ice cream...delicious!
http://HeCooksSheCooks.net
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2-21-2009 @4:54PM Anna said... All I can say to that is Bacon Cheddar Popcorn
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/01/super-bowl-snacks-bacon-cheddar-popcorn-recipe.html
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2-21-2009 @7:02PM Rt said... "What is the deal with bacon lately."
I'm guessing rhetorical questions end in a period :)
"...over the past few weeks, it has been gaining a fresh, and sometimes repulsive cultural relevance."
I don't know about "fresh" but this has been going on for months! I'm thinking there is some PR firm that deserves serious recognition - I do enjoy ham/bacon/sausage to no end tho.
You must be blest to live in NYNY. At least to afford it.
It would be interesting to see your family recipe for sugar pig-candy.
Speaking of the carnival, the first time I heard of bacon and chocolate was this year. The local TV stations covered the item at the Florida state fair. I'm thinking it was a slow news day :) Their rendition didn't look appetizing at all, more of a dip than a covered product. For me the bacon would have to be very crispy.
"Who am I kidding? I'll probably go there this weekend."
Where was that? The carnival, Roni-Sue's Chocolates?
I'm with Anna on the popcorn, just leave off the cheddar. I love cheddar cheese by itself. It is good with salads. I just think it would compete with the bacon, the more mild popcorn would be a perfect compliment.
Too bad there isn't a way to notify me when additional comments are made to this post. If I remember I'll check back to see if I've been flamed :)
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2-21-2009 @7:09PM Bruce Watson said... No flames, RT. Actually, I was going to give this post a last once-over before it went live. I like to think that I might have foreseen/fixed a few of the things that you commented on. Hell, maybe I still will!
As far as bacon's relevance is concerned, it's been on the rise for a while, but I've really noticed a major jump over the last month. I think it has something to do with the combination of cold weather and economic insecurity.
Regarding the pig candy, my wife's method is just to roll bacon in brown sugar and bake it in a 350 degree oven until it's done. I'm sure that there's a better method out there!
And, yes, I was planning a trip to Roni-Sue's. I might not make it this weekend, but I'm sure I'll go there sometime soon.
In many ways, I am definitely blessed to live in NYC; although the rent is a killer, the food options are pretty amazing. Having spent most of the last twenty years in southwest Virginia, I have some deep appreciation for variety!
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2-21-2009 @11:41PM Dr. Electro said... I used to make candied hams. Seriously. Delicious, salty and wett oll in a single mouthful of heavenly bliss. Dietarily, a major train wreck.
I do have to confess though that I have been craving bacon lately. Mrs. and I went to our favorite restaurant for brunch. I ordered biscuits and gravy with two eggs and two bacon strips. My wife ordered her skimpy little two scrambled egg whites with toast and has brouwns. I inherited her bacon. Then I had a total of five rather large strips of extra-thick bacon. I tried mightily but I could not eat all that bacon. My cardiologist will hunt me down and smite me if he reads this. I'm scared. (not)
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2-21-2009 @11:44PM Dr. Electro said... For those of you not fluent in Typonese, that second line should read, "delicious, salty and sweet all in a single bite."
My fingers betrayed me again in the second paragraph. Hash Browns somehow came out, "has brouwns." I have fired my fingers and ordered new ones from Igor's R Us.
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2-22-2009 @8:52PM lauren said... I'm glad my husband and I aren't the only ones noticing the incredible spread of bacon-ness over the internet! I'm not quite as thrilled with it, though. The photo posted awhile back of an apple pie latticed with bacon instead of crust actually made me mildly nauseous. I have no problem eating meat dishes made with fruit, or honey glazed ham or anything like that. But apparently I think bacon should stay out of my desserts.
The best one though, was right before Thanksgiving when a friend greeted me with an AIM message linking the bacon-turducken website and a query as to whether I was having that for TG. I *flipped*, seriously, all like, "OMG I AM SO SICK OF THE INTERNET'S BACON FETISH!!" et cetera and so on. I passed along the bacon apple pie and also some bacon brownies (which he thought looked appealing).
Then, the very next day, I get to my parents' house for the holiday. In the oven is... like you can't guess... yes... the bacon turducken. I said something, and my mom replied, "Oh yeah, your dad and your brother decided they had to make that." All I could think was that I had to get online as soon as possible to tell my friend because I knew it would make him laugh so hard.
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