Get out your skillets – August 20 is National Bacon Lover’s Day. Almost everyone loves bacon. Around the world, countries have their favorite ways of serving bacon. The Germans call it Speck Ham, the Italians have Pancetta, and the Chinese dry cure theirs in brown sugar, soy sauce, and spices for seven to ten days.
From Bensabaconlovers.com
Even dogs and cats love bacon. Remember the Beggin’ Strips commercials of the 90s? My cat shakes when he detects the smell of bacon.
Bacon has several tasty elements – salt, fat, and umami. (1) But it’s also not the healthiest food. High in salt and fat and most bacons have cancer-causing nitrates. Eaten in moderation, it can delight the senses. So enjoy it on bacon day.
1984 Time Magazine Article highlights the cholesterol in bacon
We all have our bacon-eating styles. My friend said she would fix a whole pound of bacon for herself and her husband. She described the time she was in a breakfast buffet line and she filled half her plate with bacon. The woman behind her asked, “Are you going to eat all that?” “Absolutely!” my friend answered.
When I cooked bacon, I would fix two pieces for each person. I don’t know how we came upon that number, maybe that’s what my mother served.
Everyone likes their bacon cooked differently. Hubby and I like it crispy with no fat. I don’t like any bit of uncooked fat. That’s why I love the microwave. Instead of rippled strips that only crisp the parts that touch the skillet, microwave bacon comes out flat and the entire strip is crispy.
Some people like their bacon medium rare; half fat, half crispy. Our nephews were at the other end of the crispiness spectrum. We fixed breakfast when we stayed with them. We placed some crispy bacon on their plates and they whined and cried, “It’s too done.” They wanted their bacon chewy. To make sure we got it right the 9-year-old supervised our cooking. He had us remove it from the pan when it seemed like it was just heated. Ugh. It was hard for me to watch. That 9-year-old supervisor is now 25 – I wonder if he still likes soggy bacon.
One of our favorite way to serve bacon was the chipotle brown sugar bacon we served at our Holiday Open House. (2) I’d fix six pounds for 30 people and it would be gone in minutes. You cut bacon into thirds, coat one side with a mixture of cocoa, brown sugar, and chipotle powder and bake it on a wire rack in the oven for 45 minutes. We’ve debated fixing it in our apartment, but it’s so messy. I would soak the half sheets overnight in the laundry tub. We don’t have a big sink in the apartment. That got me thinking. Maybe I could make smaller batches in the microwave. It’s worth a try.
Chipotle Brown Sugar Bacon - a favorite at holidays but what a mess
According to National Today, the Western world has been eating bacon since 1500 BC when the Chinese were curing pork bellies with salt. It was in the 17th Century that bacon was used to refer exclusively to the salted and smoked belly that we know today as bacon. In Yorkshire and Tamworth, there were breeds of pigs that were specifically grown for making bacon.
You can eat bacon at any meal. Serve the strips plain at breakfast. Make a BLT for lunch. And wrap it around a hotdog with cheese for a decadent dinner. I’m from Chicago and they call bacon-wrapped hotdogs Francheezie’s or danger dogs. (3) Pennsylvanians call them Texas Tommies – no one knows why. People in New Jersey call them Breakfast dogs. In Canada, this hot dog dish is often called the whistle dog. But I like the San Franciso moniker – Mission Dogs. It makes it sound like a religious experience, which it is to some people.
I’m mostly vegetarian, so I eat facon (Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon Strips). Slone Crosley, author of I Was Told There’d Be Cake, calls bacon the secret craving of every vegetarian. (4) Most vegetarians have their cheats and I can’t resist one slice of cocoa-crispy bacon at the holidays.
I was surprised that there is no bacon museum in the US. There is a Spam Museum in Austin Minnesota. We’ve been there – it’s lots of fun. As a side note, I had never eaten Spam. My father, a WWII vet, was fed Spam almost every day. He wouldn’t allow Spam in the house. He wasn’t the only one. It appears WWII Gis sent Hormel hate mail about spam (5)
However, there is Bacon Capital USA, Martin County, Minnesota, Facebook Marty the pig is the Bacon Capital mascot. And there is a Bacon Museum Website.
Marty the Pig, Mascot of Bacon Capital USA
So no matter how you like it: crispy or soggy; wrapped around a hot dog; enhanced with cocoa and chipotle powder; or in a salad, enjoy some bacon (or facon) today.
References
Aviva Shen, Why are we so crazy about bacon, Smithsonian.com, It’s delicious, January 17, 2012
Rachel, Chipotle Brown Sugar Bacon, simpleseasonal.com, June 7, 2018
Danger Dog, Wikipedia
Sloane Crosley, I Was Told Theyr’d be Cake, Riverhead Books, April 1, 2008
Blake Stillwell, Hormel Kept a 'Scurrilous' File of Hate Mail About Spam from World War II GIs, Military.com
Bonus – Bensa – Bacon Lover’s Society
Recipes
Amy, Creamy Pasta with Bacon and Peas, bellyful.net, February 20, 2014
Aunt Vera’s Spinach Salad taken from a California Wine Cookbook circa 1980 (If you like curry powder, you’ll love this salad – even served with facon instead of bacon)
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