Bacon – The best reason to abandon factory food for local goodness

I started eating local for one reason and one reason only, the quality of the food.  I later started to understand the economic benefits, the health benefits and the value of developing a sustainable local food system here in Nova Scotia.  But to be honest the reason I started was because the quality of the food I was getting from Superstore and Sobeys was no longer acceptable.  I was tired of getting food that was an unreasonable facsimile of the food I remembered growing up in the Annapolis Valley.

Nowhere is this more true than with bacon.  The waterlogged packets of chemically treated flaccid pork belly… its just not right.  What I was not aware of was that you can get some of the best bacon you have ever had directly from our farmers or local smokehouses.  I have sampled 7 different varieties of bacon from 4 different local producers.  This bacon cannot be compared to that which you get in a grocery store.  The smoke is from… wait for it… smoke.  They use natural flavors and spices and do not load the bacon up with chemical filled solutions to increase the weight of the product.  The pork that is uses is small farm raised and it shows in the quality of the meat.

The first local bacon I tried came from Active Life Farm just outside of Truro.  This lightly smoked bacon was made from Berkshire pork, the kobe of pork.  I got a side from them and the first thing that was gone was this rich meaty bacon.  From there I started exploring bacon from as many local farms as I could.

The next bacon I tried was from Sweet Williams at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market.  They have an amazing variety of bacon including back bacon, shoulder bacon, and nitrate free bacon.  Check in with them and see what they have for you on any given weekend.  The nitrate free bacon was great, there was no taste difference and for those who want to remove nitrates from their diet this is a great option.  Back bacon has always been one of my favorites and this is a great product.  However the most remarkable experience for me was the shoulder bacon.

Pork shoulder is one of the most flavorful cuts of pork and is sought after by BBQ connoisseurs everywhere because of its ability to take smoke.  A well marbled shoulder is the essential cut for amazing pulled pork.  Sweet Willams takes this cut of meat, cures it (in the same way you would cure belly to make traditional bacon) and then slowly smokes it and slices it thin.  This shoulder bacon is full of rich pork flavor, has a great toothy bite and is full of salty, smoky goodness.  You can use this bacon in baked beans or use it instead of corned beef with cabbage for a great east coast supper.  My favorite application of shoulder bacon though is in a traditional breakfast sandwich.  A couple slices of this bacon with a nice poached egg on a homemade english muffin is a real taste treat.

The other location to get great bacon at the Halifax Market is Roselane.  They have your standard sliced bacon but the bacon that brings me back over and over is their double smoked bacon.  It is well cured, double smoked and then sliced ever so thin.  A little bit of this in a sandwich or in a potato salad adds a beautiful rich smokey flavor without overpowering your dish with bacon.  The other thing I like about this bacon is it is dry… it has not been loaded with water to increase the weight so when you cook it you can actually get a sear.  It is a real treat to cook bacon without getting a steam facial.

The most recent place I have tried getting bacon from is Meadowbrook Meat Market located just outside of Berwick.  This farm to table operation produces some of the best bacon I have ever had.  Using sustainable farming methods to produce the pork and then curing it and smoking to perfection they produce an amazing product.  Their varieties include a maple bacon that has my house smelling like a sugar shack and a Montreal smoke meat spiced bacon that as Chef Greg Clancy of Untitled Eats says “is a game changer.”  This farm to table high quality approach has earned Meadowbrook the Taste of Nova Scotia 2011 Producer of the Year Award.  Here in the city you can pick up their product at Pete’s or at the Alderney Gate Ferry Terminal 7 days a week.

Once you have sourced some real bacon from one of our local suppliers you need to take your time cooking it.  Never slap bacon into a hot pan, this will lead to bacon where the meat is hard and overcooked and the fat is stringy and unrendered.  Pork belly requires low slow cooking.  On a griddle or in a frying pan heat the pan over very low heat (1 or 2) and then lay the bacon in filling as much of the pan as you can without overlapping.  Allow the bacon to slowly cook, I turn it every 3 to 5 min for the first 15 min to ensure even cooking.  Then in the end turn in more frequently.  It takes about 20 minutes to get it cooked properly.  Also never drain off the fat, cooking bacon in its rendered fat helps keep it tender and stops the meat from burning before the fat is rendered out.  When you see really small bubbles of fat that indicates that much of the water has been cooked out and you are almost done.  Rest your bacon on a clean paper towel and serve.  This will give you a crispy bacon where much of the fat has been rendered out so there are no stringy bits.

Pork is the most popular meat in the world and bacon is so popular I know vegetarians who eat it. (I kid you not I roomed with a vegetarian who tried to sick me out when I ate meat but would drive across town to get bacon).  However as with many great foods we don’t get the real goods at our factory food outlets.  If you want to have the best bacon available I strongly encourage you to try out some of our great local suppliers.