"bacon chocolate" news and stories

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!

Reason #3,493,802 why I love the internets, from the Foodzie info page for Luca Chocolate's Bacon Box:

This box started from a special request from a blogger for something with bacon and chocolate. I knew the marriage of the two flavors (sweet and salty) would be delicious! I crafted two different bacon and chocolate truffles, both of which you will find in this box.

And #3,493,803 from BonBonBar's Foodzie page:

The combination of Single Malt Scotch and Dark Chocolate is one of the more special sensations in the confectionery world. From the first taste to the seductive aftertaste, new and complex flavors emerge that seem to enhance both the Scotch and the chocolate. Our Scotch Bar rounds out the experience with chewy caramel and delicate flakes of Maldon Sea Salt. We use Talisker 1992 Distillers Edition Single Malt Scotch, from the Isle of Skye. It was transferred from traditional bourbon oak into amoroso sherry casks to finish its maturation.

And what is this magical Foodzie, this bringer of joy and seemingly hallucinatory foodstuffs? It's an online market for small artisanal food producers, and seemingly a win-win for both the vendors and customers. Because there's little overhead involved, the makers earn roughly double what they would on a traditional in-store sale, and the savings are passed on to customers -- who also have the benefit of one-stop shopping for some pretty appealing foodstuffs that might not otherwise find on their local stores' shelves.

All products are personally tested and vetted by the site's founders, three food-loving friends who met at Virginia Tech and went on to found the company in North Carolina. Their current roster includes thirty vendors of meat, cheese, coffee, tea, and many other edible goodies including plenty more of those whack-a-doodle chocolate constructs all the kids are so wacky about these days.

If you'll pardon me, I'll be off to stick my face into an Appalachian Wedge.

[via: Foodzie]