Bacon

= = =Bacon...and why not?=


 * ba·con /ˈbeɪ[[image:http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png]]kən/ - [bey-k//uh//[[image:http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png]]n] –noun**
 * The back and sides of the hog, salted and dried or smoked, usually sliced thin and fried for food**

Over many years, breakfast has earned the nickname 'the most important meal of the day', not due to any coincidence. Surely a meal held so highly in importance would offer some of the best and most complicated dishes known to man. However, breakfast also exemplifies the capability of being an elegant yet simple meal.

-Sir Francis Bacon**
 * "By far the best proof is experience."

Many find comfort through the greasy pleasures of eating a strip of bacon. Over the years, man's love of bacon has Bacon, a prime example of elegant simplicity at breakfast, consists of the lower parts of a hog that have been sliced thinly, sauted, and spawned many variations of bacon. Sara Perry, author of //Everything Tastes Better with Bacon//, has created 70 recipes that maximize bacon's versatility. This uprising of variations in cooking bacon has led to debate over which way to prepare bacon is the most savory. This on-going debate over the myriad of ways to serve bacon has incurred the interest of the intellectual community. As seen on [|BBC's news website], scientists from Leeds University have created a formula that when applied to cooking a bacon sandwich, produces a result that stirs one's taste buds right round. The formula was inspired by four researchers from the Department of Food Science. These researchers spent over 1000 hours creating 700 different variations of the bacon sandwich while fifty volunteers judged the quality of the sandwiches.


 * //"The formula is: NC + {fb (cm) . fb (tc)} + fb (Ts) + fc . ta, Where N is force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon, fb=function of the bacon type, fc=function of the condiment/filling effect, Ts=serving temperature, tc=cooking time, ta=time or duration of application of condiment/filling, cm=cooking method, C=Newtons required to break uncooked bacon." (BBC News)//**

Although this equation may make bacon taste better what you cook it with is a different matter. The manner most suitable for cooking bacon perplexes even the wisest. For those who take their bacon on the fly, microwaving this "god of meats" may be the answer. However, others prefer to enjoy the divine process by cooking it in the oven, on a campfire, or a BBQ. For those concerned with their health but cannot deny their love for bacon, an attempt is often made to "de-grease" the bacon by dabbing it with a dry paper towel. The massive approval of bacon as a food nationwide has allowed it to not only to be a part of breakfast, but also lunch and dinner. Bacon now appears in lunch taking on forms such as the BLT sandwich (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) and the bacon cheeseburger while appearing at dinner in delicate dishes such as scallops wrapped in bacon. This high demand for bacon has created entire businesses that run solely on the production of bacon.

Since 1961, pork bellies, the area of the pig from which bacon is produced, have been traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The pork bellies are traditionally traded in freezers, each belly weighing an average of thirteen pounds. The standard for exchange comes out to approximately twenty tons of pork bellies per unit.

Although bacon is a household favorite, it may have some negative heath effects on the "unfit" Americans. Despite this, millions of people nation wide still choose to eat bacon every morning because of its succulence and mouthwatering flavors that make it an essential component in 'the most important meal of the day'. Bacon excites and stimulates all, and its influence cannot be denied. Dog may be man's best friend, but bacon keeps him alive.