When Bacon Fest was first unleashed upon Sacramento last year, the crowds reflected the beloved meat’s popularity. And really, who’s surprised? The tender strips of pig meat doesn’t need any marketing, and a festival centered around its consumption practically sells itself. I mean, besides vegetarians and vegans, who doesn’t like bacon? And I’m willing to wager even those who stick to a meat-free diet get just a little weak in the knees at the scent of cooking bacon. Or maybe that’s just me.
It’s just so…sensual.
“There’s something about the combination of the cure and the smoke and different ways to cook it, that kind of all works like magic,” said Bacon Fest co-founder Brian Guido.
Bacon brings the meat and pork eating masses together. Even people who don’t eat bacon, like bacon. It is, on some level, a great unifier. And that’s just what Guido aims for the festival to be – a shared experience among Sacramentans, that brings together some of its top restaurants and pubs for a common goal – to boost business during the slower winter days, and to promote locally-sourced food.
“Honestly, bacon is the reason why it’s probably more popular than it would be if I had an event to support local restaurants,” Guido said.
The week-long festival (up from three days last year) features daily bacon-themed food events starting Sunday, Jan. 20, including a chef’s competition, a Kevin Bacon tribute night, bacon breakfasts and even a “Bacon Suicide IPA” – a blend of seven IPAs topped off with a strip of bacon, served at Pangaea Two Brews Cafe. Most events are free to attend, but cost some cash if you want to indulge.
“We’re not messing around,” Guido said. “We have support from the best restaurants in town, and I think that’s partially because we care about the products they source and they care about the products they source.”
In anticipation of the week’s events, we contacted several chefs participating in the festival to ask them some hard questions – what’s their favorite bacon-infused dish, and what’s the appeal of bacon.
Billy Zoellin, chef/owner of Bacon & Butter
Favorite dish? “You know what, that’s a hard question. I kind of recall, when I was at the Golden Bear, I did a bacon reuben. It was already cured, and we’d cook it in its own juice/fat, so we had really tender bacon, and we’d grill it. And we made sauerkraut with our own dressing on rye bread.”
Appeal of bacon? “It’s that find balance between sweet and savory, and the meatiness you get from it, but at the same time it’s succulent and almost seductive. I read a story the other day, about how a little bacon truly makes everything better. It’s one of the oldest types of meat. Humans have been curing and smoking it for years…it’s in our DNA to cure and smoke things. Before refrigeration, that was the only way to make it last for more than a couple days. It’s like a doughnut – why? It’s a balance of savory and sweet, yet being very succulent and having a bit of smokiness to it. Pork fat does not hurt either.”
Sam Nelson, executive chef of Selland’s Market
Favorite dish? “A good BLT is the best thing, in the middle of summer, with nice, fresh red tomatoes, nice juicy bacon, nice fresh lettuce. You can’t go wrong – I like simple stuff.”
Appeal of bacon? “It’s just got the perfect balance of everything – nice meat, nice fat, nice smokey flavor, nice salty flavor, a little bit of sweetness from the way it’s been cured. It’s got all those addictive things most people crave. It’s a nice balance of flavors and has everything that drives people crazy even if they’re on a diet or whatever.”
Kevin Ritchie, chef of Shady Lady Saloon
Favorite dish? “It’s just all over the place – it’s such a versatile piece of meat. I have bacon all over the menu too. But I love a good bacon and eggs.”
Appeal of bacon? “It’s like peanut butter and chocolate – why are they good together? I don’t know, they just are. It’s satisfying, it’s comfort. All that salty, fatty, bacony goodness. It’s meat candy and it’s delicious.”
Ed Roehr, executive chef and co-owner of Magpie Cafe
Favorite dish? “I like baked things with bacon in them – bread and scones.”
Appeal of bacon? “I think bacon is really kind of not that mystical. It’s sweet, it’s salty, and it’s fatty, and those are the things that trigger a primal response in us when it comes to food. I’d be the last one to say I thought it was a particularly refined relationship with bacon. It pushes some pretty rudimentary buttons in our head, and our reactions that all of us have for sugar, salt and fat. It’s kind of the perfect primal trigger for food. I’m not one to wax particularly on details gloriously about bacon, it’s really one of the simplest things, and that’s why it’s such a common denominator. Even vegans like bacon, isn’t that what people say? I think everyone smells bacon and craves it.”
Brian Mizner, chef of Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co.
Favorite dish? “We did, at the Golden Bear, a bacon-wrapped pork belly. It was bacon on bacon, and it came out really nice, we served it for brunch with a poached egg on top. We even did a chili chocolate-dipped bacon, and that was a hit. And then we did bacon bloody Marys – with pureed bacon in the bloodies and bacon strips in there.”
Appeal of bacon? “It’s very universal, you can use it in so many ways and it’s such a recognizable flavor, it stands out. It’s so versatile, you can do anything with it, from Thai food to Mexican food and everyone loves it, unless you’re a vegan or vegetarian, not many people get upset by bacon.”
Patrick Mulvaney, chef/owner at Mulvaney’s B&L/Pigs on the Corner
Favorite dish? “Spaghetti carbonara. You cook bacon, throw in a touch of garlic, add cooked pasta, fresh cheese, an egg, and the heat of the pasta cooks the egg, and it’s really creamy.”
Appeal of bacon? “It’s popular because it’s good, it tastes good. Some people say it’s the other white meat – I say it’s THE white meat. We like bacon every way it comes. For us, bacon is something that becomes artisanal – it’s easy to to make your own bacon and give it your own flavor. If you look at the arch of food in America, and as it returns to making your own, and DIY, bacon is an easy way to scratch that itch, if it’s because you want to make your own like Martha Stewart, or like a pioneer out on the frontier, or a punk rocker and you want to do it yourself, a wide swath of people are made happy by bacon.”
Photo by jeffryw/CC Flickr
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