Britain Loves Bacon

In a recent study that aimed to find out Britain’s 100 Favorite Foods, the British tabloid The Daily Mail found that bacon ranked number one.  The delicious fatty meat came in ahead of chicken, chocolate, lobster and duck. It even beat out ice cream, sausages and Marmite!

The British use bacon a little differently than Americans do.  Yes, the Brits do serve the meat on the side with breakfast but they also feature it in some odd dishes.  For instance, a common dis is a mixture of spuds, bacon and beats all in one dish. In fact it is a favorite traditional recipe by Nigel Slater.  I tis beets, potatoes, oil, mint and fresh horseradish fried up together.

You can find bacon in traditional pies in Britain.  Most cooks in the U.K. add crumbled rashers of bacon to Chicken and Leek pie or any other kind of savory pie for that matter.  Bacon is also added to soups and stews to give them a rounder flavor.

Bacon is also a traditional ingredient in Cullen Skink With Buckling.  This is a buttery soup made with cold smoked herring (also called Buckling), streaky bacon and cream.  Usually this soup is served with soft buckling fish roe on the side or with a pool of Devon cream with the roe on top.

You also find bacon in scone recipes.  A favorite is mustard, bacon and caramelized bacon baked into the favorite tea treat.  These fatty scones are then also slathered in butter.

Bacon is also used to perk up all manner of pedestrian, boring vegetable dishes. Nowadays you see bacon, cheese and cream mixtures topping everything from Brussels sprouts to asparagus to kale.

Another beautiful classic dish is a bacon, sausage and black pudding pilaf. This consists of bacon, sausages and butcher’s black pudding that is mixed with basmati rice to make a tasty side dish.

A traditional use of bacon in Britain is in the creation of Oysters Kilpatrick.  Bacon is fried with crumpled brioche and mixed together with Tabasco and Worchestor sauce. This mixture is placed on a shell and then topped with a cooked oyster and then baked again until the oysters are golden and bubbling.

A Canadian dessert that is also served up in Britain as a posh favorite are home-made donuts made with Canadian maple syrup and bacon. The combination of sweet and salty goes very well together.