Last Saturday, I participated in an “I Love Bacon” cooking class hosted by TasteDC.com and featuring Chef Brian Boots.
Chef Boots demonstrated a series of bacon-blessed dishes for the participants, including:
- Bacon wrapped chicken livers (definitely the overall crowd favorite)
- Cassoulet
- Chipotle lime bacon wrapped shrimp
- Chestnut pancakes with bacon and creme fraiche
- Baby spinach salad with hot bacon dressing
- Roasted garlic and bacon mashed potatoes
- Apple, blue cheese, and bacon cheesecake
The courses were accompanied by wine, video presentations, and lively conversation.
But the most interesting part of the event happened before any of the dishes were served. Each of the participants were given 10 different pieces of bacon for a blind tasting to determine which bacon was the best. All of the bacons were purchased at local grocery stores – there were no niche or specialty bacons like those you can get from purveyors such as The Grateful Palate. But the exercise was interesting given the range of bacons we tasted. Following are the group results ranked from highest to lowest:
1. Kunzler Black Pepper Bacon (this was my #2 choice)
2. Oscar Mayer Maple Bacon (this was my #1 choice)
3. Gwaltney Beef Bacon (this was also my #3 choice)
4. Giant Hickory Smoked Bacon
5. Gwaltney Brown Sugar Bacon
6. Hatfield Applewood Smoked Bacon
6. Applegate Farms Uncured Hardwood Smoked Sunday Bacon
8. Giant Regular Bacon
8. Kunzler Honey Cured Bacon
8. Hahn Butcher’s Bacon from Balducci’s (this one was kind of surprising since it was supposedly the most “high end” bacon of all those tasted – I actually rated this one #4 myself)