In this installment
Bacon bits
About Spencer’s Irish Back Bacon
Cooking tips
Bacon bits
Made in Chicago, Illinois
Cure: Dry cured in salt for ten days
Smoke: Nope
Taste: Lightly smoky, subtly sweet, lean
About Spencer’s Irish Back Bacon
Most British or Irish bacon today is made from pork loin brine-cured with salt, sugar and spices. It’s the cornerstone of a “proper Irish breakfast.” To quote Malachi McCormik’s classic In Praise of Irish Breakfasts, “It is beyond disputing that bacon is the ne plus ultra of the Irish Breakfast. While its tangy intensity draws out the best in many other ‘breakfast elements,’ it is fair to say that for some of them it is indispensable. Fried filed mushrooms become magical in its presence; unbaconed calves liver is unthinkable; the unaccompanied egg, inconceivable.”
Bacon has played a prominent role in Celtic cooking and culture for many centuries. While butter is certainly the dominant fat of the island, and potatoes have played their lead role in Irish cooking ever since the explorers brought them back from the New World, bacon bridges the gap between ancient Celtic cultures and modern-day Irish cooking. Pigs were already popular twelve centuries and there are many ancient ac counts of curing and smoking pork and bacon was even used as payment for land leas es. That was then, and this is now.
Truth be told, this bacon isn’t Irish.
Truth be told, this bacon isn’t actually from Ireland (it’s from Chicago) and the man that makes it is actually from England, not Ireland. But it’s still made in the same style and tastes just as delicious. Maybe better than what you might find in British grocery stores. The story goes like this: British marketing man Nick Spencer marries a nice American woman and moves to the US. Missing his morning “rashers,” he eventually decides he’s going to try making his own. Using old style, dry curing techniques and pork from sustainably raised heirloom hogs he begins making traditional British bacon. Six months later Nick’s driven up from Chicago to speak and share his story here in Ann Arbor at Camp Bacon and Zingerman’s Deli starts selling his sliced bacon by the pound.
Cooking tips
Cooking in a Skillet
Add bacon to a cold skillet set over medium heat. Flip it every minute or so for even cooking and to reduce curling. Cook for five to ten minutes depending on how crispy you like it.
Cooking in an Oven
Heat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lay out bacon strips evenly on sheet. Bake for ten to fifteen minutes, depending on how crispy you like it. No need to flip.