Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published December 5, 2007 Killing Us Slowly With Bacon A few months ago, I ordered a dinner of five courses. I should have read the menu more carefully. That's why I won't say where this was. Another reason is that this is not the only restaurant where the condition I'm about the relate exists. There was no bacon in the dessert. But it was in every other dish. Wrapped around the sea scallop appetizer. Crumbled into the soup. Crumbled into the blue cheese salad dressing. And formed into a belt around the pork chop. Bacon is good. We love bacon. In fact, we never get enough of it. Because we all love and understand bacon, it's easy for a chef to add a little bit of bacon to a dish to increase its appeal. And perhaps its price. But bacon does not go with everything. And there is such a thing as too much bacon. In that five-course dinner, for example. The most overused and worst use of bacon is with beef. The old practice of wrapping a filet mignon with bacon is almost gone--and thank goodness. It's always seemed to me ridiculous. The idea is to add some fat to the usually very lean tenderloin; however, it doesn't really work, and what you wind up with is a flabby piece of bacon distorting the flavor the beef with its smokiness and sweetness. The very worst example of this is sold by the hundreds of thousands: the bacon cheeseburger. Bacon on a cheeseburger is a convincing demonstration of the unconquerable appeal of bacon: even though it's a terrible addition (what needs more fat less than a hamburger?), people still order it to get that little bit more. It's one thing too many. The trick has now spread to the top of the dining-out chain. By simply noting that the bacon is applewood smoked (or some such pedigree), gourmet chefs are adding it to a growing list of dishes, including many in which it is a distinct minus. Even when it's good, the quantity of bacon within a dish has also been increasing, and the stuff is starting to take over. Bacon belongs in some dishes. I think it's great with oysters, from  simple dish like oysters en brochette to the more subtle use in the sauce for oysters Bienville. It's good in a quiche. A sandwich. Or on a salad. But chefs need to take inventory of the number of dishes on their menus that use bacon. I saw one menu recently where--no fooling!--bacon was in three out of four of the savory dishes. This is not creativity, but the lack of it. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com