Audio By Carbonatix
A couple of weeks ago, I kept seeing
chiles pop up on menus in everything from margaritas to brownies, and
while that’s not too surprising this time of year, it gave me
pause. Back in April, Iron Fork was so bacon saturated that it might
as well have been called Iron Pork. Maybe ‘exotic’ chile recipes,
Hatch or otherwise, aren’t the specific innovations to usurp bacon
as America’s food god, but I wondered if a coup d’tat is
afoot, perhaps one so surreptitiously underground it isn’t
immediately obvious.
Nah. Thinking that people will stop
wanting bacon is like expecting them to grow tired of smelling babies
or tormenting cats with laser pointers. And bacon-infused spirits, garish as they may initially sound, are just point in case.
The “fat
wash” technique is hardly new, but I first heard about it back
in April when Máté Hartai over at The Libertine expressed boredom
with fruit infusions and a desire to experiment with something more
challenging. At the time he was tossing around the idea of bacon, as
well as pulled pork you’d normally find there on brunch tacos or
the Wednesday night special, the BBQ Sandwich. We dropped a line this
week to see if he got around to it and how it went, but weren’t
able to get in touch. However, per
the online menu, looks like at least one of those ideas worked.
The aptly named “Bronson” is “pulled pork Blanco tequila,
house-made ginger agave nectar, fresh lime and a blanket of smoky Del
Maguey Chichicappa Mezcal.”
But on the other side of town, Bread
Winner’s made it happen with bacon. Dallas
Food Nerd snapped the above-pic for their Facebook back in July,
and we’re told the bacon-infused vodka Bloody Mary, served up in a
boot mug, replete with jalapeno and strip of bacon garnish, is
everything you could want in a hangover cure and more. Go ahead. Line
that stomach, drunkie.
We’re told that it is available only
during brunch hours, and we couldn’t get a straight answer as to
whether the bacon-vodka is a permanent fixture or around just for a
limited time. Anywhere else in the city messin’ around with meat
and booze? Don’t answer that.
