Bacon is getting a whole new sizzle on the gourmet scene these days — would you believe chocolate bacon Fudgsicles? — and Russell Bird is making sure Alberta gets its due.
The Sherwood Park man represented his country in the bacon category at the World Food Championships in Florida last month and reports things have never looked better for everyone’s favourite cured meat.
“Bacon has been a hot spot in cooking the last three years,” said Bird. “I saw bacon desserts at the WFC that would blow your mind.”
Read Also
Farmer-friendly nematodes: Tiny worms for big canola pest control
Not all nematodes are equal in farm fields. Beneficial species of the tiny soil-dwelling worms could one day help beat back damaging canola insect pests like diamondback moth on the Canadian Prairies.
Bird, a marketing specialist in promotional products, is also doing his part to add to bacon’s culinary canon — an effort that began last year when he and wife Jocelyn, also an accomplished cook, wound up with 16 pounds of bacon after a work-related swap.
“We get together with three other couples who love food and have these ‘fests,’ judging each other’s entries. So we decided to have a Baconfest. I made a bacon salad, and my wife made sushi with bacon. Her dish won.”
The concept was resurrected when Bird, who had won a couple of ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen cooking contests, was invited to compete in the Canadian Food Championships, part of the Taste of Edmonton promotion, this summer.
Bird set out to perfect his wife’s creation, testing different types of bacon.
The duo perfected the process for their first-round entry, a butter-poached lobster tail bacon sushi roll. The second round required using maple syrup, so they created a sushi roll with the bacon and rice glazed in maple, and traditional tomago cooked eggs in the centre, also enhanced with maple. The lobster tail sushi came fourth and their breakfast entry first, giving them a third-place overall finish.
The top two teams earned a berth in the world championships, but when one couldn’t make it, Bird and his father-in-law joined 18 Canadian teams competing in the various categories. The event attracts hundreds of teams competing for a $100,000 grand prize.
Using 25 pounds of President’s Choice Blue Menu natural wood-smoked bacon (which Loblaws shipped to Florida for him), Bird created two dishes. The first category — a ‘structured build’ — was a bacon dumpling, and his green onion cake with bacon and fennel was judged 14th best overall. His now signature bacon and egg sushi grabbed 13th spot.
