Bacon Review #2

Curtis sent in his second Bacon Review. Now this, my fellow humans, is how a bacon review should be written. Compare this effort with Bacon Review #1.

'NAUGURATION CELEBRATION BACON, TRUE ELATION

Vande Rose Farms Applewood Smoked Bacon - prepared at two levels of doneness: soft and crispy - twenty minutes in 350° oven for soft, then crisped for six more minutes at 400° for second tasting.

Now this here is some real hog belly. At $13.95 for 12 ounces of nine thick slices (or $1.55 per slice) it ain't no humbly priced pig, but since I'm happily not paying the freight I'm not concerned about being a thrifty eater.

The bacon is made from award-winning Duroc hogs rather then the far more prevalent hybrid pigs. The artisans at Vande Rose Farms consider Durocs to make the finest tasting bacon possible and the proof of their contention is this superb foodstuff. Their bacon is hand-rubbed and dry cured using a 175-year-old recipe crafted by their "pork expert," Bruce Aidells.

As its package is opened, the uncooked bacon releases a gentle tang of sweet smoke and pork into the air. Anticipation mounts while the meat bakes with no smoking problems from rendered fat. Jack Sprat would love this bacon since the admirably thick slices are primarily comprised of lean rather than fat at about a 70 to 40 percent proportion.

The first batch of soft slices are consumed with a from-scratch buttermilk pancake stack. "The hog was sacrificed for an excellent purpose," says one avid teenaged reviewer as he blots a sheen of pig fat from his chin. "It garners a top rating from my discerning palate."

Indeed the bacon has a wonderful meaty texture with very subtle salt that allows the faint sweet smoke to come through even as the pork asserts its flavor. This reviewer has never tasted such a perfectly seasoned and conservatively salted rasher.

But it is during the crispy batch that the bacon's best qualities are amplified. The meat is deliciously full-flavored and chewy, the fat wonderfully melty. The meat reminds one of smoked ribs or even pork chops, with a firm substantial presence in the mouth that, as it is chewed, releases its slightly sweet smoke and a very lovely piggy ness that floats well above a startlingly faint saltiness. One aspect of the meat's flavor is not unlike a salted caramel ice cream. Just a fantastic comestible!

Now your never humble reviewer is off to listen to listen to Miss Aretha on this beautiful day in America.

-Curtington - January 20th, 2009