A couple of months ago, I was excited to receive a jar of Skillet Street Food Bacon Jam (Bacon Spread, for the sophisticates among us) that I’d ordered with two intentions. The first was seeing with my own eyes bacon that exists in a spreadable form. The second was finding a reason for something so potentially stomach-turning and seemingly unnecessary to exist other than rankling herbivores.
For the uninitiated, Bacon Jam is made of bacon (obviously) that is rendered for hours with onion, spices, and liquid ingredients, then lightly pureed and flash-chilled. Admittedly, my first tasting experience with the product did not fill me with optimism. The day it arrived, I began my odyssey by spreading a bit of it on a triangle of wheat toast. That first bite was far different than I’d imagined it would be. I’d expected more smoke and a lot less underlying sweetness. I’d known that for what it was, such a product could not be anything other than greasy, but I was still unprepared for just how greasy it seemed on first tasting. Having said that, each bite was indeed loaded with bacon’s chewy, salty merits, laced with sugar and balsamic vinegar. Having the balsamic vinegar and sugars announce themselves upon the palate less immediately would have been nice, as they somewhat distracted me from tasting the bacon during my first few bites. The more I chewed, though, the better-tasting it grew.
Overall, that first sampling was an experience that while not auspicious, was not unpleasant. Moreover, it was instructive. Having at last met and tasted spreadable bacon, I now had a base of personal reference upon which to construct my usage strategy.
A chief aspect of the curiosity that guided my purchase was discovering into how many recipes of my own design I could insert the product. To that end, I deliberately avoided reading any bacon-related recipes in print or on the web throughout my testing and review process. This made the experience of utilizing Bacon Jam in my own original dishes as much an evaluation of my kitchen ingenuity as of the product. The prospect spoke to me in a big way, since I believe that half the fun in discovering a new foodstuff is meeting the challenge of how best to use it for meals. At the time of this writing, I have achieved five original recipes and am still counting as new exploration avenues occur to me. Two of those creations, Baked Cheese with Bacon Jam and Fuji Apple and Mashed Baby Red Potatoes with Bacon Jam and Green Chile, have thus far made it onto the Recipes page of my Flavorful World food and drink blog, with the remainder to follow soon.
I give Bacon Jam high marks for its versatility. It serves equally well as a condiment, a sauce base, or a finishing flourish. While my initial impression found it somewhat subdued in terms of smokiness, it has confoundingly brought a perfect level of smoked flavor to every meal to which I’ve added it. Since Bacon Jam’s arrival in my home and its debut upon my palate, my focus has been to get this product into as many new recipes as I can. I believe that all who purchase this product will find themselves sharing that focus.
I’d definitely consider purchasing Skillet Street Food Bacon Jam again, if only to continue my kitchen experimentations, though as one who’s struggled with weight and elevated cholesterol in the past, I think it would be unwise to let it become a staple. As an occasional indulgence, however, Bacon Jam is adaptable and lends itself well to numerous uses. It is a challenge whose gauntlet adventurous cooks should seriously consider retrieving once in their lives.
Visit http://www.skilletstreetfood.com to purchase Skillet Street Food Bacon Jam.
Visit this link for calorie/nutritional Information about Skillet Street Food Bacon Jam.
