- Lauer, Heather.
Bacon: A Love Story.
New York: William Morrow, 2009.
ISBN 978-0-06-170428-4.
-
The author, who operates the
Bacon Unwrapped
Web site, just loves bacon. But who doesn't?
I've often thought that a principal reason the Middle East
produces so much more trouble than it consumes is that almost
nobody there ever mellows out in that salty, fat-metabolising
haze of having consumed a plate-full of The Best Meat
Ever.
Bacon (and other salt-cured pork products) has been produced
for millennia, and the process (which is easy do at home and
explained here, if you're so inclined) is simple. And yet the
result is so yummy that there are innumerable ways to use this
meat in all kinds of meals. This book traces the history
of bacon, its use in the cuisine of cultures around the world,
and its recent breakout from breakfast food to a gourmet
item in main courses and even dessert.
The author is an enthusiast, and her passion is echoed in
the prose. But what would be amusing in an essay comes
across as a bit too precious and tedious in a 200 page
book—how many times do we need to be reminded that
bacon is The Best Meat Ever? There are numerous recipes
for baconlicious treats you might not have ever imagined.
I'm looking forward to trying the macaroni and blue cheese
with bacon from p. 153. I'm not so sure about the bacon
peanut brittle or the bacon candy floss. Still, the concept
of bacon as candy (after all, bacon has been called “meat
candy”) has its appeal: one customer's reaction upon
tasting a
maple
bacon lollipop was “Jesus got my letter!”
For those who follow Moses, there's no longer a need
to forgo the joys of bacon: thanks to the miracles of twenty-first
century chemistry, 100% kosher
Bacon Salt (in a rainbow of flavours)
aims to accomplish its mission statement: “Everything should taste like
bacon.” Try it on popcorn—trust me.
If you're looking for criticism of the irrational love of
bacon, you've come to the wrong place. I don't eat a lot
of bacon myself—when you only have about 2000 calories a
day to work with, there's only a limited amount of
porky ambrosia you can admit into your menu plan. This is
a superb book which will motivate you to explore other ways
to incorporate preserved pork bellies into your diet, and if
that isn't happiness, what is? You will learn a great deal here
about the history of pork products: now I finally understand the
distinction between
bacon,
pancetta,
and
prosciutto.
Bacon lovers should be sure to bookmark
The Bacon Show,
a Web site which promises “One bacon recipe per day,
every day, forever” and has been delivering just
that for more than four years.
May 2009 