Bacon makes everything better.
That statement has become cliché, sure. But it has also been tested by chefs of renown.
When chef Todd Fisher embarked on his television journey United States of …
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Bacon makes everything better.
That statement has become cliché, sure. But it has also been tested by chefs of renown.
When chef Todd Fisher embarked on his television journey United States of Bacon, he sampled pairings that were unexpected – such as breakfast cereal – where bacon indeed improved upon the original.
But how do you make bacon better? Leave that to Chris and Taylor Warbritton of Centralia’s Heartsong Family Farms.
The Warbrittons take their time. They allow the pigs to roam, to feed off of acorns and the plants that grow in their meadows.
“Spring, summer and fall they help clean up our woods,” Taylor Warbritton said. “They have room to be pigs. I think that makes a difference.”
It takes six weeks longer for the pigs to reach market weight, but their patience and care pays off on our tables.
The meat is reminiscent of a fine cured ham, with hints of sweetness but a savor of pasture land – nutty, with a gentle floral hum balanced by the rustic impression of trampled fall leaves.
Over heat, the bacon renders evenly. The meat doesn’t shrivel like common store brands. Rather it slowly relaxes.
The fat is like cashmere – a finespun wrap that drapes over the palate.
Heartsong’s bacon varies by the season. The maple cure brings out a burnishes sweetness when sauteed, for instance. Their applewood smoked has a wisp of fruit and bittersweet smoke that seems to dance with the nutty streak in the bacon.
This is why pasture raised meats are gaining in popularity. The flavor profile is unique, a natural thing culled from the nuts and grasses consumed by the animal as they wander without stress – and at Heartsong, without hormones or antibiotics.
“Nothing against lot-raised pigs, but they don’t absorb some of the same things,” Warbritton said.
And that’s how bacon is made better, so that it can make everything else better.