Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon

Book excerpt: Take a trip to Camp Bacon with James Beard award-winner Ari Weinzweig as he guides you on a personal tour of bacon's long and curious history, and brings you right to the smokehouse door of some of his favorite bacon curers in the U.S. "Bacon is so integral to the culinary history of this country. The roots are so deep in our cooking, I think of it as the olive oil of North America." And that history is often a strange one. You'll learn about how bacon was used to promote matrimonial harmony in medieval England, and you'll meet Andre Williams, one of the country's most colorful blues singers and a big bacon lover. You'll also meet celebrated bacon makers from Wisconsin to Kentucky to Connecticut and learn not only what makes their bacons so full of flavor, but also, just as importantly, what makes one bacon different from the next. The book includes over 42 recipes so you can put your newfound bacon expertise to use in the kitchen right away! Printed, bound, and warehoused locally, in southeastern Michigan.