"Vintage" foods that are still with us today.

[Josephine]

what is streaky bacon? sounds like it's diseased...

It's bacon from the belly of the pig, instead of the back too. It's mainly what we have here in the states. Wiki has a pic of it here.

 

[olive bleu]

Bacon is pretty much the only reason I'm not vegetarian.

I hear ya sister. Bacon is what ultimately pushed me OFF the vegetarian wagon.

 

[dhermann1]

Piggies

For the last several years I've been avoiding eating pig, not for religious reasons, or health reasons, but because, as Winston Churchill said, cats look down at humans, dogs look up to humans, but pigs will look you square in the eye like an equal.
However I was at the Dutchess County NY County Fair a couple of weeks ago, and as we perused the various livestock (saw a fascinating cattle judging of Ayreshire milke cows, truly fascinating) we came to the pig pavilion. Or whatever they called it. Anyhow, I was struck by what repulsive creatures those little porcine porkers really are. Fat, slimey nosed blobs, laying about all day, wallowing and sprawling all over each other.
I have to say I'm slightly less reticent about eating them now for the original reason, but more reluctant for the latter reason. A quandary.
But the smell of bacon! Yes! What a great aroma to awake to! Bacon, eggs, and coffee wafting through the house. Yum.

 

[BellyTank]

Guess we're spoilt for Bacon over here on the other side...

Six years of living in Denmark has left me taking the definition of Bacon for granted.

Danish Bacon, I think it's famous.

Bacon and Chicken together, with Pesto, mmm...


BL
T

 

[LizzieMaine]

Pork = the food of kings.

A popular attraction at our local county fair for many decades has been the Adult Women's Pig Scramble, which is exactly what you think it is: an oiled pig turned loose in a muddy field with several desperate ladies chasing him. I have never competed, but I know some brave gals who have. It is Quite A Sight -- and the deal is, if you catch the pig, you get to take him home and have him for supper some night. Few have turned down such an honor.

 

[Edward]

I wonder how many end up keeping the pig as a pet? lol I have to admit, dedicated omnivore that I am, the thought of actually doing the dirty work of slaughtering my own meat is pushing it a bit.

Thanks for the 'lunch pail' explanation Lizzie - I'm clearer on it now. I wasn't aware that some of them had that double-layer... interesting idea, I presume that would have dated before a thermos was available (at least at a price the working man could afford?).

One of my favourite traditional meals is an old-fashioned Christmas dinner - home-made vegetable broth as a starter, full turkey and trimmings main course, followed by sherry trifle or Christmas pudding (I always opt for the former, not a fan of the pud). I virtually live on home-made broth for large chunks of the winter - glorious stuff. If I'm having that as a meal in itself, I'll normally thicken it considerably with a load of boiler potato, usually also including a decent bit of shin. Sprinkling of black pepper, plenty of salt..... mmmmm. The best thing to ease or prevent a winter cold. Nothing else quite like it coming in after a long day outside in cold weather. Soon be time to get that stewpot on the go again.....

 

[PADDY]

What about 'this' box for your pork pies and bacon.

Isn't this just the 'bee's knees' Great for going to school or the office!!

 

[olive bleu]

That is perfect PADDY Do you own that set? I can't get any work done today..i need to go home now and make porkpies

 

[Baron Kurtz]

what is streaky bacon? sounds like it's diseased...

too much fat:

bk

 

[Rachael]

one of my favorite things about vintage camping is having hotcakes cooked in bacon grease. I'm not sure why I don't do this at home, it's always been an outdoor breakfast. Maybe the cholesterol doesn't stick if you eat it in the fresh morning air.

 

[Haversack]

I'll submit a proper classic food...Hangtown Fry! Eggs scrambled up with bacon and oysters. Said to be concocted in Hangtown for a miner who had struck it rich and wanted a meal made with the most expensive ingredients. (Back then, eggs were over a dollar each.)

Locally, I'm a bit spoiled for bacon. The neighbor downstairs makes and smokes his own, and there's a German butcher down the Camino a bit that makes nine different types of bacon, including proper British rasher bacon.

Haversack.

"Bacon - the Gateway Meat"

 

[Joie DeVive]

Amen on the BLTs, but only in the summer when the tomatoes have some flavor!!

My vintage favorite is traditional German fried potatoes. I don't actually do them traditionally, as then they would be fried in bacon grease, and since I usually don't serve the potatoes with bacon, it would make it tricky, but nonetheless, YUM.

 

[olive bleu]

fftopic: ok..all this talk about BLT's is making me think of fried green tomatoes. cuz i have some in my fridge( green tomatoes waiting to be fried that is)

 

[LondonLuke]

Bacon is, as far as I'm concerned, food of the gods. Add some good sausages, eggs, fried bread, tomatos and so forth, wash down with a cup of tea, and it's the perfect breakfast for any occasion.


Sure, it's going to kill me young, but I'd rather die at 70 and enjoy my life than eat muesli and live to 100.


Got to go, now crave bacon. Need to harden my arteries

 

[Tomasso]

Isn't Canadian Bacon, which is readily available in most U.S. cities, the same back cut as the U.K. rasher? [huh]

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Isn't Canadian Bacon, which is readily available in most U.S. cities, the same back cut as the U.K. rasher? [huh]

No no and no......

people keep saying that...and uggg...no.....does not taste the same....i cannot tell you -why- it isn't...but it just isn't.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Similar, but different. When i heard about Canadian bacon i was hopeful that my worries were over, but it wasn't quite right. A friend from my undergraduate days did his postgraduate study in Toronto and when we visited we went to a greasy spoon for breakfast, and the bacon wasn't quite right. But i'm afraid i don't recall exactly what was wrong about it (^^ a common theme, it seems ^^).

bk

 

[Edward]

How far back does the fried breakfast as we know it extend? Early 20th, or is it Victorian?

I'm always intrigued to find out when things first became popular - traditional English-style fish and chips, for instance, go back to Victorian times, much earlier than I would have thought.

 

[i_am_the_scruff]

I constantly felt sorry for US residents who'd never encountered a real bacon rasher. Only "streaky" bacon is regularly available, and is invariably too fatty for the British taste- not nearly enough meat on it.

here's what bacon should look like:

IMO there is nothing better than a sunday morning bacon sandwich with fried eggs an freshly brewed coffee.

bk

Beautiful. I know someone who knows someone in Canada, and apparently the only way they can get that bacon is to buy a big lumo and slice it themselves. Probably the same in America I assume?
I don't mind streaky bacon when i'm in America, but i'm glad it's back bacon in England

 

[dhermann1]

There's a scene in the movie "Tea With Mussolini", where Joan Plowright shows the little Italian boy how to have a proper English breakfast. I imagine that at that time (the 1920's) that kind of breakfast was unknown outside the Anglo Saxon world. It's available everywhere now, of course. But I wouldn't hazard a guess as to how far back it goes. OK, I'll hazard a guess. Maybe the 1830's? Somehow I associate that style of food with the period when knee breeches disappeared and long pants came into style. I challenge anyone to make sense of my logic.