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Bacon wrapped turkey

Angels on horseback on a grill

History

Bacon is believed to have originated thousands of years ago, when the Chinese would cure pork belly in salt and serve it as an early form of bacon. The Roman Empire was then thought to have picked up on this curing method, developing their own early form of bacon called “petaso”, which they served with wine. Bacon quickly became an essential ingredient in Roman and Anglo-Saxon cooking.

Description

Bacon wrapped food is a style of food preparation, where bacon is wrapped around other ingredients or dishes, and either grilled, fried, or baked.

Bacon Wrapped Dishes

Angels on Horseback

Angels on Horseback is a popular bacon wrapped dish served commonly served in the United Kingdom, that was popularised by the Victorians in England. They are made by wrapping bacon around shucked oysters, and then either broiling or grilling them. Some people choose to skewer the bacon to the oysters with a toothpick prior to cooking. It is speculated that the term “angel” was derived from how the edges of the oysters would curl upon cooking, and was thought to approximate the appearance of angel wings. This dish is generally served hot as an appetiser or a snack after meals, alongside buttered toast, where the toast is traditionally cut into triangles. Certain variations of this dish exist, including using shrimp or scallops in replacement to the oysters. Another variation is marinating the oysters prior to wrapping in bacon or pancetta, and serving with herbs and butter in the oyster shell instead of toast. Some versions also use hotdogs and processed cheese slices instead of oysters. Other versions serve the dish with lemon and parsley.

Devils on horseback using dates

Devils on Horseback

"Pigs in a Blanket" on a baking tray

Devils on Horseback is a dish that consists normally of bacon wrapped prunes that originated from the United Kingdom. It is made by stuffing a dried prune with chutney, then wrapping it in bacon and grilling it. It is then placed on buttered toast, given a grating of cheese, and broiled before serving. Other versions of this dish steep the prunes in alcohol, such as Cognac and Armagnac prior to stuffing and grilling, or use dates or apricots as opposed to prunes. Thomasina Miers, co-founder of Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca, has her own version of Devils on a Horseback where the prunes are soaked in a mixture of Earl Grey tea, Chile de árbol, allspice, and brandy prior to being wrapped in bacon and cooked, and is described by the Metro as “The most modern, racy spin” on Devils on Horseback. Chef Martha Stewart’s version of this dish involves stuffing dates with Stilton cheese before wrapping them in bacon. The name Devils on Horseback is derived from Angels on Horseback, a similar dish that uses seafood instead of dried fruit.

Pigs in a Blanket

Pigs in a Blanket is a dish commonly served in the United States and United Kingdom. In the United States, this dish is normally made by baking hot dogs or Vienna sausages wrapped in biscuit or croissant dough. However in the United Kingdom, it is typically made by wrapping sausages or chipolatas in bacon, and then baking them. This dish is believed to have first been found in Betty Crocker’s Cooking for Kids Cookbook, which was published in 1957. It is considered a very popular dish, normally served as an appetiser or hors d’oeuvre. Furthermore, April 24th of every year has been dedicated as Pigs in a Blanket Day.

Bacon Explosion

Sliced Bacon Explosion

The Bacon Explosion is a bacon wrapped dish developed by Burnt Finger BBQ team members Jason Day and Aaron Chronister. The recipe for the dish was initially posted onto www.bbqaddicts.com, Day’s food blog, and is described to consists of “two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce.” The blog post then went viral in 2009, earning coverage by news sites such as The Telegraph and even onto the front page of the New York Times. It was named “the most downloaded recipe in the history of the internet”, and has since attracted more than 500,000 page views. The entire dish contains over 5,000 kilocalories and 500 grams of fat, and was described by the New York Times to be “certainly not the vegetarians and health fanatics.”

In Popular Culture

Today, bacon is said to be a never-ending trend. It has resulted in bacon mania, and bacon wrapped food is just one of the byproducts of this phenomena.

Tasty, a Facebook cooking channel run by the company Buzzfeed, has made many videos featuring bacon-wrapped recipes. They include bacon wrapped meatballs, burger rolls, potatoes, garlic knots, and mozzarella sticks. Some of their content has gone viral, with one of their videos titled “Ultimate Bacon Recipes” receiving over 9 million views on Facebook, and 1 million views on Youtube.

Sorted Food, a popular British cooking Youtube channel based in the England, have also featured bacon wrapped recipes on their channel, some of which have gone viral. Their video titled “Full Christmas Dinner Cookalong… SORTED!” featured two members of the channel Chef Ben Ebbrell and Jamie Spafford cooking what they called “Figs in Blankets”, which were figs wrapped in bacon and cooked under a grill with maple syrup. Another video titled “THE ULTIMATE BACON SANDWICH BATTLE”, featured Sorted Food member Barry Taylor cooking a “Bacon Weave Kimchi Grilled Cheese”. This is a grilled cheese stuffed with a kimchi cheese sauce and gochujang, wrapped in a bacon weave, a lattice pattern made of bacon popularised by the Youtube cooking channel Epic Meal Time.

Bacon Mania has had profound effects all around the world, but more specifically, around the United States. In September of 2010, a Chicago Mercantile Exchange report reported that since 1998, there has been a steady increase in pork belly prices, the cut of meat with which bacon is made of. Furthermore, they also reported that as of August 2010, frozen pork belly stocks have dropped significantly, hitting their lowest level since October 2007. This is believed to be due to the fact that buyers used to purchase frozen pork belly when it was still considered a “seasonal treat”, and resell them at a high price when demands for them were high. However, in recent years, people no longer viewed bacon as a “seasonal treat”, and instead consumed them year-round. This lead for the demand for frozen pork bellies to decline, and an increase in the demand for fresh pork belly that would be turned into bacon.

As of 2013, bacon sales in the United States reached 4 billion dollars, with each American consuming an average of 17.9 pounds of bacon annually.

Reception

Various different opinions circulate about the health risks associated with the consumption of bacon. The World Cancer Research Fund, a non profit organisation focused on cancer research and cancer prevention, carried out research on just this. They conducted an investigation on 51 million people. The results obtained showed that the frequent consumption of processed meats such as bacon increase one’s chances of getting diagnosed with bowel disease and breast cancer. Furthermore, they stated that there is “no level of intake” of processed meats that does not increase cancer risks”, and thus recommend reduced consumption of said meats. A separate investigation they did specifically on the causes of stomach cancer revealed that the daily consumption of an average of 2 strips of bacon increase one’s chances of getting diagnosed with stomach cancer by 18%.