mmmmm bacon

I tested a dish last night for the second time. My husband said straight away “it’s not as flavourful as the first time”. He was right but I couldn’t figure out what I had done differently. Then, when I went to serve up the main course, I realized my mistake there next to the stove was a dish of cooked crispy bacon that I’d forgotten to add. It's hard to imagine life without bacon. I've posted this whimsical photo of a bacon tree – if only you could plant a bacon tree in your yard, or have it on the kitchen windowsill next to the herbs. This photo was taken by Fred Sauceman at a Southern Foodways Alliance event and sent to me by member and good friend Miriam Rubin. Without knowing me, Fred has graciously allowed me to post his shot. Bacon lovers are good people.

Bacon has many fans and there are numerous internet sites dedicated to bacon. Recently the New York Times weighed in and then I received an email from Belgium with this link. Next Pav at Overnights, an Australian radio show where I am a regular guest, asked me about the Bacon Explosion, which it seems has traveled the world. Its fame is now assured as it has a Wikipedia page. Bacon is back. I claim to have done my bit with my book Fat and reading the responses to bacon on Mark Bittman’s blog just shows how deep our love of bacon runs. For me bacon comes from a pig, but recently I tried some lamb bacon made by Christopher at Whitehouse Meats. While smaller than regular bacon there was enough fat on the lamb belly to make it appropriately fatty and so tasty. Here it is on toast topping a spread made from lamb's testicles, more of that later.