Thursday, May 22, 2008

Boar's Head & the Lakers **Guest Post**


Our good friend Charles reviewed some tasty bacon....

"Forewarning: I am not a bacoterian and don't have the palette of a sommelier. However, I am a bacon carnivore. I promised Bacon Chris for a review, so here it is. While hitching a ride with Chris after imbibing ales and what-nots during happy hour at BJ's Brewery (thanks Chris) we took a detour to Gelson's to check out the bacon selection. Two packages really caught my eye. One was a peppered bacon which looked like it had 8 meager standard slices for $8. The value
proposition wasn't there and I can't even remember the brand name. Nevertheless I was tempted because I had never gnawed on pepper-laced bacon. The other one had an incandescent glow of red originating from the core of this vacuum-pack. The name, rather brand was Boar's Head. It was a product of Canada, but it definitely wasn't the ham-type nor was it Peameal bacon. This was true bacon so I snatched it out of the display fridge and immediately took it to the check register (as well as picking up a roasted chicken).

The following night while the Lakers were down 20, I needed a distraction. Furthermore, I was hungry so I reached in the fridge and pulled out the Canadian-made pork belly. I went against the cooking instructions and obeyed the Lords of Bacon cooking technique. I pre-heated my oven and threw in several slices of the Boar's Head. Lo and behold, Kobe's team is within 7 points and I hear the crackling of cooked bacon. Okay, so I don't know whether it was because of baking it, as opposed to the traditional frying, but DAMN, these slivers were amazingly delectable! Salty, of course, but not overpowering; there was no hint of hickory nor applewood, but tasty just the same; the texture really got me. It was like eating moist beef-jerky--a little bit chewy but melted when it hit the back of your throat. I had to bake the rest. When I ate the last piece, wanting for more I look up at the TV screen, the Lakers took out the Spurs 89-85 to take a 1-0 lead. What a night!"

4 out of 5 strips

1 comment:

Bacon Chris said...

I thought you said you were gonna share?!?! What the donut???