''I Love Bacon!'' is a

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

with over fifty recipes devoted to

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

and bacon dishes, many of them from

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

s. The book was written by Jayne Rockmill and photography was provided by Ben Fink. Broken down into eight sections, the book covered how to make homemade bacon and moves onto "

brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of ''breakfast'' a ...

" and "small bites" before covering soups, salads and sides, pasta, fish, meat, and desserts. ''I Love Bacon!'' was published in October 2010 by

Andrews McMeel Publishing Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (formerly Andrews, McMeel and Parker (1975–1986) and Andrews and McMeel (1986–1997)) is a company that publishes books, calendars, and related toys. It is a part of Andrews McMeel Universal (which comprises AM ...

and met with favorable reviews for its unique dishes and helpful culinary tips for novices.

Background

The book's author, Jayne Rockmill, is a

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

based in New York City whose clients include

Tony Caputo Tony C. Caputo is an American author, visual artist, entrepreneur, and former publisher. Career In 1985, Caputo founded NOW Comics and NOW Entertainment Corporation, a multimedia company that published comic books, children's periodicals, tra ...

, François Halard, and the professional photographer and storm chaser, Jim Reed. Rockmill had also become involved in producing charity food and wine events, and is a longtime supporter of the New York City

Food Bank A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direc ...

and

Share Our Strength Share Our Strength is a national organization working to end childhood hunger and poverty in the United States. Share Our Strength holds culinary events, solicits individual donations, and uses social media to raise funds, which are then used to ...

, which focuses on ending childhood hunger. She conceived the book as a way to help raise money for their work, and a portion of the proceeds from ''I Love Bacon'' will be donated to the two charities. Rockmill began by asking chefs she knew personally to donate bacon recipes, and then contacted others across the United States. In some cases, she adapted the original recipes in collaboration with the chefs. The book's illustrator is the well-known food photographer,

Ben Fink Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

, whose photographs appear in ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

'', ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center i ...

'', ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also the ...

'' and publications of the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

. A native of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

now based in New York, Fink illustrated

Jacques Pépin Jacques Pépin (; born December 18, 1935) is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working ...

's, ''Fast Food My Way'' (2004) and Maggie Glezer's ''Artisan Baking Across America'' (2000) for which he won a

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

in 2001. Some of Fink's more unusual food photographs are those for Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge's 1997 '' InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook'', where the food is photographed against the background of a naked human body.

''I Love Bacon!'' contains over 50 recipes from celebrity chefs including

Cat Cora Catherine Ann Cora is an American professional chef, television personality, business person, and cookbook author. She is best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on ''Iron Chef America''Yancey, Kitty Bean"'Iron Chef' Cat Cora is out of ...

John Besh John Besh (born May 14, 1968) is an American chef, TV personality, philanthropist, restaurateur and author. He is known for his efforts in preserving the culinary heritage of New Orleans cuisine. Background Besh was born in Meridian, Mississippi ...

Ming Tsai Ming Hao Tsai (; born March 29, 1964) is an American restaurateur, television personality, and celebrity chef. Tsai's restaurants have focused on east–west fusion cuisine, and have included major stakes in Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachus ...

, and

Chris Cosentino Chris Cosentino is an American celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of ''Top Chef Masters'', a competitor on ''The Next Iron Chef'' and for his appearances on ''Iron Chef America''. He is known for his haute cuisin ...

, as well as brief biographies of the chefs themselves.Bacon Today (bacontoday.com)
Bacon Today's "I Love Bacon" Interview With Jayne Rockmill
2010. Retrieved November 10, 2010. It presents basic bacon recipes as well as dishes with bacon as one of the chief ingredients.Johnson, Carol

''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

''. November 3, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2010.Wood, William R
"'The cleanest fat': Pork belly is versatile, emotional and Southwest Michigan chefs love to serve it"
''

Kalamazoo Gazette The ''Kalamazoo Gazette'' is the daily newspaper in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and is part of MLive Media Group, Michigan's largest local media organization. ''The Gazette'' publishes seven days a week. Papers are available for home delivery on Thurs ...

''. November 1, 2010. Retrieved November 10, 2010 The recipes are grouped into eight sections beginning with ''Make Your Own Bacon'' which has recipes for "Classic Cured Bacon", "Spicy Braised Bacon", "Soy-Ginger Braised Bacon", "Crispy Pork Belly", and "Chinese Style Pork Belly". The remaining seven sections (''Brunch''; ''Small Bites''; ''Soups, Salads and Sides'', ''Pasta'', ''Fish'', '' Meat'' and ''Desserts'') contain recipes for dishes using bacon as one of the main ingredients. The ''Brunch'' section begins with a recipe from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

-based Black Rock Spirits for "Bakon Bloody Mary", a variant on the traditional

Bloody Mary Bloody Mary originally referred to: * Mary I of England (1516–1558), Queen of England and Ireland, so called because of her persecution of Protestants Bloody Mary may also refer to: Film * '' Urban Legends: Bloody Mary'', a 2005 horror fi ...

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

using bacon infused vodka with the glass rim dipped in lime juice and finely crumbled grilled bacon. Although the majority of recipes in this section feature bacon with its traditional brunch partner, eggs, there is also a recipe for "Mediterranean BLTs". This version of the classic

BLT sandwich A BLT is a type of sandwich, named for the initials of its primary ingredients, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It can be made with varying recipes according to personal preference. Simple variants include using different types of lettuce, toasti ...

pairs the bacon, lettuce and tomato with toasted

focaccia Focaccia ( , , ; lij, fugassa ; nap, label= Barese, fecazze ) is a flat leavened oven-baked Italian bread, similar in style and texture to pizza; in some places, it is called ("white pizza"). Focaccia can be served as a side dish or as san ...

bread and red-pepper

aioli Aioli, allioli or aïoli ( or ; Provençal oc, alhòli or ''aiòli'' ; ca, allioli ; es, alioli ) is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean, from Andalusia ...

in place of mayonnaise. Another version of the BLT using toasted

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and ...

and

sun-dried tomato Sun-dried tomatoes are ripe tomatoes that lose most of their water content after spending a majority of their drying time in the sun. These tomatoes are usually pre-treated with sulfur dioxide or salt before being placed in the sun in order to i ...

es cut into mini-sandwiches appears in the ''Small Bites'' section which is devoted to bacon-based

hors d'oeuvres An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

. Among the recipes in ''Soups, Salads and Sides'' are "Egg

Chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...

with Bacon and New Potatoes", "Grilled Bacon and Cucumber Salad with Chili Caramel Dressing", and "Spicy Braised Bacon with Spagna Beans and Treviso Radicchio" which uses thickly sliced

pork belly Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless and fatty cut of meat from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in Hispanic, Chinese, Danish, Norwegian, Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine. Regional dishes France In Alsatian ...

bacon. The ''Pasta'' section has a recipe for "Bacon Mac and Cheese" from Julie Taras Wallach, the chef and co-owner of the Tipsy Parson and Little Giant restaurants in New York City. Her variant on the traditional

macaroni and cheese Macaroni and cheese (also called mac and cheese in Canada and the United States and macaroni cheese in the United KingdomBBC, RecipesMacaroni Cheese/ref>) is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce, most commonly Cheddar sauce. The ...

uses

cavatelli Cavatelli ( , also , ; literally "little hollows") are small pasta shells made from semolina or other flour dough, that resemble miniature hot dog buns, commonly cooked with garlic and broccoli or broccoli rabe, or simply with tomato sauce. A v ...

pasta seasoned with

dijon mustard Dijon mustard (french: Moutarde de Dijon) is a traditional mustard of France, named after the town of Dijon in Burgundy, France, which was the center of mustard making in the late Middle Ages and was granted exclusive rights in France in the 17t ...

, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and nutmeg and incorporates sauteed onion and pieces of grilled bacon. One of the recipes in the ''Meat'' section, "Veal and

Foie Gras Foie gras (, ; ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding). Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy ...

Meatloaf Wrapped in Bacon", comes from Mark Allen, who in 1997 became the youngest chef, and the first American, to have headed The Dining Room at the

Ritz-Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addit ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Allen also contributed a recipe for the ''Fish'' section, "Whole Roasted Branzino with Carrots and Bacon". Other dishes in that section include "

Pancetta Pancetta () is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, p ...

-Wrapped

Monkfish Members of the genus ''Lophius'', also sometimes called monkfish, fishing-frogs, frog-fish, and sea-devils, are various species of lophiid anglerfishes found in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. ''Lophius'' is known as the "monk" or "monkfish" ...

with Cauliflower Flan" and "

Bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

with Corn, Avocado, and Bacon Salad". Like its somewhat lengthier predecessors, Sara Perry's ''

Everything Tastes Better with Bacon ''Everything Tastes Better with Bacon: 70 Fabulous Recipes for Every Meal of the Day'' is a book about cooking with bacon written by Sara Perry. She is an author, food commentator and columnist for ''The Oregonian''. The book was published i ...

'' (2002), Pruess and

Lape LAPE, Spanish Postal Airlines ''(Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas)'', was Spain's national airline during the Second Spanish Republic. History LAPE, often also spelt L.A.P.E. and colloquially known as ''"Las LAPE"'', replaced CLASSA (''Compa ...

's ''

Seduced by Bacon ''Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore about America's Favorite Indulgence'' is a cookbook about bacon written by Joanna Pruess with her husband Bob Lape. It was first published by The Lyons Press in 2006 and contains 90 recipes using bacon for b ...

'' (2006), and James Villas's ''

The Bacon Cookbook ''The Bacon Cookbook: More than 150 Recipes from Around the World for Everyone's Favorite Food'' is a cookbook on bacon by James Villas. It was published by Wiley in 2007. Villas is a former food editor for '' Town & Country'' magazine, and ''T ...

'' (2007), Rockmill's ''I Love Bacon!'' includes sweet dishes using bacon. Among the recipes in the ''Desserts'' section are "Bacon

Panna Cotta Panna cotta (Italian for "cooked cream") is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. History The name ''panna cotta'' is not mentioned in Ita ...

with

Huckleberries Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho. Nomenclature The name 'huckleberry' is a Nort ...

", "Cane Sugar and Bacon-Iced Cupcakes", and Cat Cora's "Pig Candy Ice Cream". Cora's recipe uses a pound (.454 kilograms) of chopped applewood-

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and ''lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tradi ...

bacon per

quart The quart (symbol: qt) is an English unit of volume equal to a quarter gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the of the British imperial system. All are roughly equal ...

(.946 litres) of

brown sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

-sweetened vanilla ice cream.

Reception

Carol Johnson writing in the ''

'' described ''I Love Bacon!'' as both a cookbook with "inventive" recipes and "a mini-course in some of the country's top restaurants." Johnson noted that not all recipes were for beginners, but found the accompanying notes for many of the recipes with information about techniques and ingredients to be helpful. She described Ben Fink's photography as "vivid and mouth-watering, if a little spare." The Republic of Bacon website favorably reviewed the cookbook for its ability to go beyond the standard classic cured bacon dishes and the added biographies of the leading industry chefs which contributed recipes to the book.

Notes

References

External links

''I Love Bacon!''
at the official website of Andrews McMeel Publishing
Official website of Ben Fink
the illustrator of ''I Love Bacon!'' {{Bacon Books about bacon Cookbooks Andrews McMeel Publishing books

Background

Contents

Reception

See also

Notes

References

External links