Bacon worshipers Andre Vonbaconvitch (left), Seth Zurer (middle) and Michael Griggs are the fellas bringing BaconFest Chicago to reality. After months of hard work assembling chefs, vendors, and sponsors--and after decades of cultivating a love for salted pork strips--their efforts will pay off tomorrow when the doors on the festival open at the historic Stan Mansion in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood.
"It's been a long time coming, with a lot of ups and downs," says Zurer. "We're tickled that the day is finally here."
So are we. Even the most die-hard bacon fanatics might end up with bacon hangovers after the event. There'll be bacon tastings from some of the most distinguished bacon-minded chefs in the country. Bacon artisans like Nueske's will be hawking their wares. Bacony edibles/drinkables like Bakon Vodka's infamous libation and Das Foods' Man-Bait maple-bacon candies will be on hand. Many are looking forward to the amateur bacon cookoff, with dishes from bacon-scallop gyoza to a BLT dog vying for the prize. There's so much stuff that not even the organizers can say what they're most looking forward to.
"I'm excited for the moment right before we open the doors," says Zurer. "I'll poke my head out and see what i can only assume will be a seething horde of excited-beyond-belief bacon lovers getting ready for their encounters with bacon greatness: checking their hair, smoothing their eyebrows, shpritzing some Binaca....
"Then I'm excited to see those same people at the end of the shift, shuffling out, goodie bags full of bacon booty, waddling a little from all the bacon they ate, smelling as if they'd been cured and smoked themselves, smiling deliriously in that pre-nap bacon euphoria."
Seriously, we at Bacon Du Jour could not be more excited. If you weren't lucky enough to get tickets, it's all right--cook up a plateful of Nueske's finest on Sunday morning and log onto BDJ for a BaconFest Chicago wrapup.
I am going tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteHey Y'all ... We (Rogue Ales) were tied up at Craft Brewers Conference during BaconFest, and really wanted to pour some of our beers with our partners -- Vosges who offer Rogue Ales' Shakespeare Stout and the Mo Bacon Bar; and we serve Nueske's Applewood Smoked Bacon with Snake River Farms Amer Kobe Burgers at our 9 public houses in the PacNW.
ReplyDeleteThe B(p)ig News is Rogue Smoke - a Rauch Bier made with smoked malts which has the flavor of bacon and smoked meats took a SILVER MEDAL at the World Beer Cup on Sat Night during CBC. Maybe in 2011 we can get bring Rogue's Smoke Ale to BaconFest! During Great American Beer Fest in Sept 2009, I did a session on Umami flavors paired with beer -- I made a fig stuffed with Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue, wrapped in Nueskes Bacon (broiled and cooled), then tempered in Tcho Chocolate. check out my blog online at
http://roguechocolatestout.blogspot.com/2009/10/umami-flavors-and-beer-at-grear.html
Prost! ~ sebbie