What We’re Eating: The Bacon Cookbook

Cookbook authors are an amazingly dedicated bunch. When we here at LC peruse a new book, looking for the recipe we’ll test before posting, I think not enough thought goes into the process of creating a book. Lifetimes are spent writing, testing, photographing, and tweaking — all in the hopes for perfection, for recognition, for, perhaps even, an award. Of all the cookbook honors given, the most intriguing to me is the single-subject category: a cookbook that focuses on a particular cooking method, a technique, an appliance, or a specific food.

With The Bacon Cookbook James Villas is a contender for just such an award. After 20 informative pages of bacon history, an explanation of curing and smoking, definitions of “bacon by any other name” — i.e., pancetta, speck, lard fumé — and a particularly useful list of mail-order sources, he then gives us over 200 pages of recipes. This is an exhaustive study.

Any fan of bacon knows the depth of flavor it adds to a stew or casserole, but how about cookies? German Bacon Cookies (Speckkuchen) evidently can be found in most German pastry shops. Villas presents several dessert recipes, as well as breads, salads, rice, and more. These aren’t contrived but rather well-thought out and executed recipes. Swiss Apple, Pear, Potato, and Bacon Braise is a complementary side dish to most game or veal main dishes.

If you need a stick-to-your-ribs soup on a snowy day in the coming year, I think you’ll be quite content when you bring home the bacon for a hearty Russian Borscht. Conversely you can serve it cold in the summer or any time your palate desires. Happy New Year!