5 things you didn’t know about bacon
We already knew that bacon in the Netherlands isn’t the same as breakfast bacon. Breakfast bacon is essentially a piece of pork belly cut into long strips, or rolled up and sliced into rounds. But we can tell you much more about bacon! And we understand if reading this makes you hungry…
So there’s nothing stopping you from tossing a few slices into a pan later, or better yet, putting them in the oven without any splattering. Bacon is best when you ask your butcher to cut it into thicker slices. Fried until crisp alongside an egg, but also delicious with a bowl of perfectly steamed white rice, some crispy chili oil and finely sliced spring onion!
Getting ba(c)k to basics
The origin of the word bacon can be traced back even further than the Middle English word bacoun, which eventually lost its u. Bacoun was in turn derived from the Proto-Germanic word bacho or bak-, referring to the back (in this case, of the pig). A true kitchen classic, then…
Whether you look at it from above or below
In America, where it’s hardly surprising that an enormous amount of bacon is eaten, bacon generally comes from the belly of the pig, just like our breakfast bacon. In England, however, where they also have a very long bacon tradition—especially with their Full English—bacon is cut from just below the pig’s back, as it is in the Netherlands. This has a thinner layer of fat than the belly, so bacon here is a less fatty type of cold cut than breakfast bacon.
Elvis’s sandwich
Whether it was made with banana, jam or honey (or a combination of these), opinions differ. But there seems to be no doubt about the other two indispensable ingredients in The King’s favorite sandwich. Peanut butter and bacon! Oh yeah! Also delicious in burger form: the Elvis Burger by Jord Althuizen, one seriously bad boy.
Your own saint
The patron saint of professions involving livestock, especially pigs, is Saint Anthony. Coincidentally, he is also the saint of lost things—or rather, the one you pray to when, for example, you’ve lost your bicycle keys. So if you can’t find them just as you were about to head to a good artisan butcher to make the best scrambled eggs with bacon, or simply a bacon sandwich, you know what you have to do. He was also once called upon to protect pigs and their sties from disease.
Bust a bacon Move
I’m guessing half the readers are old enough to know this catchy song by Young MC from 1989 (and now won’t be able to get the tune out of their heads for the rest of the day). And while Bust a Move sings about women wanting a man “who brings home the bacon”, this not entirely feminist viewpoint requires some explanation. The phrase most likely dates back to the twelfth century, when a church in Dunmow, England, promised a large piece of bacon to any man who had not argued with his wife for an entire year. So if you could say that you had ‘brought home the bacon’, you could count on respect and esteem!
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