Today is National Bacon Day across America and there are hundreds of exhibitions and festivals being held today in many American cities. Phoenix is no different. A local restaurant called "Oink" is sponsoring an "all you can eat" bacon contest and will feature their eight different bacon varieties.
More power to all the bacon lovers. Bacon gets a bad rap with the nutrition nazi's. First of all, a quality slice of bacon is not all that fat if cooked correctly. An average slice of bacon is only 60 calories and a good third of the fat is cooked away as long as you cook it to crispness. And ounce for ounce you can't beat the taste of bacon to liven up a breakfast of eggs and toast, or as an accompaniment to a double stack of pancakes.
And is there a better tasting lunch sandwich than a bacon lettuce and tomato? Crispy and fresh, the crunch of crispy bacon and cold crispy lettuce, with fresh tomato is "manna" on earth! My bacon fetish involves preparing a bowl of oatmeal, melt in a tab of butter and a dollop of milk, then crumble a slice of bacon over the top. You have the sweetness of the oatmeal marrying with the saltiness of the bacon and you have a savory and delicious and healthy breakfast!
Lets's forego those artificial bacon bits and cook a slice of applewood smoked bacon, crumble it up and spread it over your garden salad at dinner. It goes nicely with the cold, crispy salad and a good ranch dressing.
Now there are those who like their bacon half cooked; limp, rubbery, with far too much fat to the slice. I cannot eat bacon cook in this manner. I gag on those rubbery fat pellets...gotta have my bacon cooked to a good crispness.
Until a few months ago there was a bacon place in San Francisco called Bacon Bacon...as I remember it was up in the Haight area...the restaurant was bacon crazy and served bacon in a hundred different ways, including bacon coffee (ugh). But, as with everything else that proves fun in San Francisco, the vegan and nutritionist nazi's decided they just couldn't tolerate the smell of bacon that emanated from the place. They raised some George Soros serious amount of money, sued the restaurant and got it closed down. I understand the bacon lovers there rallied to the cause and Bacon Bacon now operates off of a food truck. Sad that these food nazi's could close down a good business....but I'll bet you a pound of Oscar Meyer Smoked, Center Cut that the nazi bastards found it hard to resist the smell of that bacon cooking, so forced the "evil" away from them!
Oh sure, being America, we are more than capable of taking a bacon craze to vulgar and excessive levels; once while watching the food network I watched an episode featuring far out road diners. The diner featured a one pound bacon cheeseburger. The sandwich was as big around as a pie plate and a good foot high. They showed a chubby pre-teen kid trying to get his hands around the monstrosity, with little success.
Surely the "bacon Nero's' and the nutrition nazi's can come to a compromise. Two or three strips of bacon, nestled nicely beside your eggs on a weekend breakfast is not going to kill anyone. So, America, it's still early! Go out and get yourself a pound of the good stuff and make yourself a great breakfast! Viva National Bacon Day!
