Yum or Yuck: Chocolate Covered Bacon

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Yum or yuck folks?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26092641

Bacon makes everything better, even... chocolate?

It sounds so wrong — but for some, these ingredients just taste so right

updated 1:57 p.m. ET, Fri., Aug. 8, 2008

Here are three little words that might give the staunchest snacker

pause: Chocolate-covered bacon.

It sounds so wrong. But it tastes just right, says ph Marini III,

a fourth-generation candy maker who is selling the bacon bonbons at

the Santa Cruz Boardwalk seaside amusement park.

" It's not just for breakfast any more, " he says with a grin.

And this isn't just a wacky West Coast thing.

This year, Famous Dave's at the Minnesota State Fair is rolling out

Pig Lickers — dark chocolate-covered bacon pieces sprinkled with sea salt.

" It's just like the most bizarre combination, " says fair spokeswoman

Brienna Schuette. " I actually really liked it. It was a good

combination of sweet and salty. "

The urge to create new flavor profiles is a natural for a field driven

by creativity, says Page, co-author with Dornenburg of

the forthcoming " The Flavor Bible, " a sort of field guide to flavor

pairings.

Chefs have two basic agents of change: using a different cooking

method or mixing up flavors. So a classic such as tomatoes and basil

might get turned into tomato sorbet with a basil sauce. Or you might

find unorthodox couplings, such as salads of watermelon and feta or

cotton candy with foie gras.

" There's a whole trend toward chefs pushing the boundaries, " says

Page. " Chefs are trying to be more playful and incorporate new kinds

of whimsy. "

It's hard to tell exactly where the dream of candy-coated breakfast

meats started, but for Marini, the inspiration was a trip with some

ski buddies a while back.

" One guy came up with, 'Who doesn't love bacon? Who doesn't love

chocolate? Let's marry them together.' "

So Marini gave it a shot and after some trial and error — crispness is

key, he says, noting that chewy bacon plus chocolate is undelicious —

he came up with a product.

" It was kind of a joke to begin with, " he says. " We brought it down to

the boardwalk and put it in a case just to see if people would react,

and they reacted. "

Take boardwalk visitor , who on a recent foggy morning had

a quizzical look on his face as he began eating a sample at Marini's

at the Beach. But he finished with a smile.

" Interesting combination, " was the verdict. " I didn't think it would

be very good but once I tried it; it was good. "

Of course, chocolate-coated bacon is just the latest incarnation of

the wackier-the-better fair food philosophy.

Fair food has been shaking up the snack scene for some time, says Ron

Whiting, of Whiting's Foods, whose family has been selling food at the

Santa Cruz Boardwalk for decades.

" Years ago, I think food tended to be more traditional and less fun, "

he says. Then came the corn dog and the era of quick and on-a-stick.

" We all talk about the next corn dog, " he says.

Fry, fry again is a persistent theme. Current popular snacks include

deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos.

Page, who admits to eating " more than my fair share of fried dough, "

notes that gourmet chefs have taken to putting food — just about any

food — on a stick, coming up with some posh Popsicles. Meanwhile,

there's the foie gras-cotton candy matchup, not a stretch flavor-wise

since foie gras usually is paired with something sweet, but certainly

visually arresting.

" It's the melding of both these worlds, the high end and the low end, "

said Page.

Never underestimate the appeal of battered-is-better.

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