This morning over a breakfast of (what else?) bacon, my Thanksgiving house guests and I started talking about how crazy trendy bacon has become. My friend had just raved about Denton Square Donuts' maple bacon donut. And not too long ago I watched a food show that featured bacon milkshakes.
Now, I like bacon as much as the next American gal, but bacon-flavored vodka? Not so sure.
And bacon does have its detractors: Arun Gupta of The Indypendent in "Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction" says that the flavor of bacon — which is a type of meaty savoriness — is addictive. Of course, it's also not the healthiest of foods, laden with sodium and fat, something that Americans don't need (because something like a third of us are obese, according to NationMaster.com.)
But none of this seems to slow down the growth of bacon's popularity. Some say that bacon's star rose because of all the cooking and foodie shows on TV that featured all these unusual bacon products (like the aforementioned bacon milkshake.)
And it doesn't hurt that bacon is pretty delicious.
In addition to somewhat normal products like bacon-of-the-month clubs, there are lots of interesting bacon items out there including products made by J & D Food's, such as Bacon Lip Balm.
Have we pushed the limit of bacon's usage yet? You can even join one of the bacon Facebook pages too. For example, Bacon Butty, which already has over 560,000 fans (That's over 300,000 more fans than Republican presidential candidate, Rick Perry!)
Ok, so maybe bacon is not the healthiest food on the market, but it's definitely one of the most popular. If you're in the mood for some bacon that's off the beaten path, try these resources:
Bakon Vodka is potato flavored with bacon. They say it's the best thing to make a bloody mary with and does not burn your throat like other liquors do.
12 weird bacon products- Bacon gumballs, bacon wrapped hot dogs, bacon chocolate bar, bacon cupcake, etc.)
Chicken Fried Bacon- Bacon that is chicken fried. Hmmm.
Squeez Bacon® is like ketchup but made of bacon. It was started by a man in Sweden a few years after WWII. Claimed to be the best thing ever invented.