Thursday, February 21, 2008

Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

Posted by Josh in Bacon, Des Moines, Festival, Travel

Bacon is about sustained attention in a click-happy TV-remote-and-computer-mouse world. It must be forked, flipped, watched. It must not be under- or overdone. It must be honored.

-Mike Kilen, The Des Moines Register

Though we just got back from our most recent culinary adventure, the 2.0somethings crew is already gearing up for our spring break plans: The First Annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Des Moines, Iowa. The festival will be held at the High Life Lounge on March 1. According to The Register, “PBR will be offered for $1 a draw, paired with succulent dishes such as bacon-wrapped shrimp, little bacon cheeseburgers, a bacon-wrapped jalapeno and tater tot – all the gourmet bacon foods.” The festival will also include bacon-flavored craft beers, a “Blazin’ Bacon Bloody Mary, served with a slice of peppered bacon,” and maple bacon cheesecake. No word on whether EMTs will be standing by to provide on-the-spot bypasses.

Originally, I just wanted to post about the festival, but the Des Moines Register article is, for lack of a better term, glorious. It is at times poetic,

Bacon is the underdog, in the shadow of the Iowa chop and thick beef steak, a hardworking food for the fearless.

factual,

Bacon sales rose 20 percent from 2000 to 2005, which the National Pork Board attributes to added flavors such as maple and jalapeño and the increased use of bacon to accompany other foods. Sixty-two percent of restaurants have bacon on their menu.

and it delivers the greatest bit of understatement I have read this year, or possibly ever:

“The bacon-eating contest should be competitive.”

Sign. me. up.

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