BACON!

[Buckdida]

So, some of you (particularly those in the IRC) heard that I was writing an essay. You see, my rather awesome English teacher (essay class) informed us that we had to do an MLA (kinda) research paper. But it could be on anything. ANYTHING! So of course, the first topic that came to mind was furries...and then we were told that we had to do an oral presentation to the class as well. Okay then, I needed an new topic. Still, I had already been brainstorming sources for my first chosen topic, and an antho based talk show, called "ACTfur on air," was one such source. For some reason, the hosts had this obsession with bacon...

So of course, my next topic idea was bacon. And the class and my teacher loved it. The final essay was 3 pages, double spaced. Short by my standards, but whatever.

____________________________

Bacon



Bacon. It goes well with eggs, is usually seen at the breakfast table, and is an overall fun word to say. Quite a well known meat, Bacon is usually recognized as strips of meat from pigs. But for something that we consume on a regular basis, how much do we really know about bacon? Where did it come from? How is it made? Why do we have phrases like “bring home the bacon”…and…what is “Baconnaise?” Prepare to gain more knowledge than you’ll ever care about (or even want to know) about the strip-like pork cut called “bacon.”

So where does bacon come from? Most people would be quick to answer, “pigs.” While this may be true, it’s entirely unspecific, and bacon has come a long way from just “pigs.” First off, the word “bacon” is a modern day term that evolved from the sixteenth century middle English, which simply used to mean any cut or type of pork. The word evolved, and was used in a variety of forms in other languages: French “bako,” German “bakkon” and others, which referred to a cut of pork from the pig’s back. (Filippone) Strangely enough, while most of the rest of the world sticks to the fact that bacon is a cut of pork from a pig’s back or side, American bacon is made from pork belly. (Encyclopædia Britannica) This is why you hear pork bellies as a US commodity.

As for how Streaky Bacon, or American style, bacon is made, listen up! Bacon was originally smoked and cured in the home, but now it’s manufactured. First you begin with the pork belly; meat from a pig’s underside, its belly, as the name would suggest. This raw cut of meat still has the skin attached to it, so the first thing to be removed is the skin. (As a side note, that skin is sliced up, fried, and packaged. Those are Pork Rinds.) Next up is the curing and smoking. Curing and smoking a meat is normally used to preserve the said meat by inhibiting growth of micro-organisms, turning quickly spoiled meats into an invaluable food resource in those days before refrigeration. However, in modern times, these processes give bacon its unique salty and smoky flavoring. Both processes can be done manually, by soaking the pork in saltwater brine and then heating the meat with smoke, but most manufacturing plants prefer to add liquid smoke flavoring to the curing solution, and inject that directly into the raw meat. The by-product of this process is that the pork bellies must then be heated at a low temperature for the smoke flavoring to actually spread through the meat. Afterwards, the meat is then cooled and stored for a couple of days before being sliced into rashers, which is the true name for the individual meat strips that we’ve come to know. At this point, standard uncooked bacon is then packaged and sent to stores. “Pre-made” bacon is sent through an extremely large microwave and becomes cooked that way before being packaged. (Discovery Communications)

Now, as I mentioned before, there are many types of bacon and bacon products throughout the world. Back Bacon comes from the middle of back of the pig (as its name would so explain) and is much more lean and lower in fat compared to American Streaky bacon; Back bacon is also called Irish or Canadian bacon and primarily consumed in the U.K. Middle bacon comes from the pig’s flanks (sides) and is a median in terms of lean vs. fat between Streaky and Back bacon. Cottage bacon is a thin cut from the pig’s shoulder, while Jowl bacon is cured and smoked pig’s cheeks. There are also types of bacon which are cut from the pig’s joints: Hock is from the pig’s ankle, Gammon is from the hind leg, Picnic, which comes from under the shoulder blade, and Collar, which is self-explanatory. (Wikipedia and Global Oneness) In naming all of these cuts of bacon, I am currently under the assumption that they will be simply prepared via pan-fried. In reality, there are many, many ways that bacon can be prepared and consumed, although these ways are usually to complement some other, less delicious food. In addition, there are many bacon derived products. Bacon bits are the by-products of misshaped or malformed rashers (in other words, broken bacon strips) simply ground up and put in a jar. Great on salads! Bacon salt is a simple seasoning that tastes like bacon, but is kosher certified and contains no meat, allowing everyone, even vegans, to taste bacon. Baconnaise is a bacon flavored spread, similar to that of mayonnaise, to be used on sandwich like dishes, like burgers. There’s even Bacon flavored vodka. Yes, Vodka. Products like these likely result from America’s unhealthy obsession with bacon.

Bacon, while delicious, has its health facts like any other food. While the nutrition does vary depending on the cut, our American Streaky bacon is about half meat and half fat. Not to mention that bacon is very, very salty. As such, bacon can contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle, and eating excessive amounts of bacon is akin to eating too much red meat, with fat and a lot of salt. Eating about four strips of bacon will give you about %20 of your daily fat and protein (provided you’re on a 2000 calorie diet). In addition, bacon is commonly persevered using sodium nitrate, which is believed to linked to various types of cancer. However, there are non-sodium nitrate bacons. However, bacon, in moderation, with a normal healthy lifestyle, should post no threat to the average person.





"Bacon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 06 Oct. 2009 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/48121/bacon.
“Bacon.” Global Oneness. 10/1/09. http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Bacon/id/421241.
“Bacon.” Wikipedia. 10/5/09. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon.
“Episode 12.” How It’s Made. Discovery Communications. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0DbcUUO-hI
Peggy Trowbridge Filippone. “Bacon.” About.com. 2007. New York Times Company. 9/26/09. http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhis ... istory.htm.

[JakJak]

Awesome essay. I should write about this when the freewriting assignment comes, because usually every english teacher gives one out sooner or later.

[Ebly]

I was going to comment on some of the language you used in there on the basis it was an essay, but then I read it was an oral presentation and went "ooooohhhhhhhh" out loud and everything was okay.

Is it weird I basically read your post from the bottom up?

[robertalexander]

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[Dissension]

GG, spammer, reviving a five-year-old thread wasn't at all suspicious.