The last time I ate bacon was 1979. Even so, when I smell the salty sizzle of pig flesh in a pan I find myself reconsidering my no-land-mammal-meals commitment. Such is the power of pork.
And it's a power Zingerman's co-founder Ari Weinzweig knows all too well. Flavor begets obsession begets Camp Bacon.
This second annual celebration of cured and smoked pork belly will feature four days of porcine-powered fun. The event includes music, poetry, prizes, celebrity chefs, those who eat bacon, and those who are makin' bacon.
Things kick off with a special Roadhouse dinner tomorrow night (prepared by 2011 James Beard Award winners Andrea Reusing of the Lantern restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C. and Roadhouse chef Alex Young). Needless to say, bacon will be on the menu. Tickets are $45.
Friday sees the Camp Bacon return of R&B legend Andre Williams, whose tune "Bacon Fat" was a 1957 hit record. The show is at 8pm at The Ark.
Saturday is a day-long affair for bacon aficionados, with cooks, poets and writers providing belt-loosening room between bacon-inflected meals.
Sunday brings a bacon-inspired food and art fair to Kerrytown Markets, from 11-2pm. It's open to the public.
Which leaves Monday for fireworks and local Independence Day celebrations.
Only in America. Burp.
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