ShareThis
| 20 July 2010
This past Sunday, competition was fierce at the Twin Cities Bacon Takedown, where 18 contestants brought their bacon best to O'Gara's for taste testing by a crowd of scrutinizing samplers. Some of the more imaginative entries included everything from chocolate caramel bacon cheesecake to bacon-infused vodka with a BLT garnish, both of which ended up sounding better than they tasted.
Attendees included a whole group of people in pink T-shirts with curly, pink pipe cleaner tails, a woman dressed as a strip of bacon, a woman who's micro-famous for her bacon bikini, and a guy whose last name is actually Bacon, with a poster-size blow-up of his driver's license to prove it. So who won the Best Bacon honors?
I judged the wares with Heavy Table's James Norton and Becca Dilley, and we awarded merit as follows:
· 1st: Jason Goux--Bacon S'Mores with Cherry Wrapped Bacon
(Like a bacon-wrapped date, but even better.)
· 2nd: Ashley and Chris Newberry--Uncle Beelzebub's Breakfast Bacon Bites
(Tiny bacon "bowls" containing French toast and egg.)
· 3rd: Jason Clauson--Bacon Bombita
(Fried bacon/jalapeno/cheese balls that would make a great bar snack.)
A few other favorites included the bacon sushi, beer-battered bacon, and bacon parsnip cake with maple bacon glaze. The People's Choice winner Kristin Olson prevailed with her Brown Butter Cereal Bars with Candied Bacon and went home with a porcine trophy and a year's supply of Hormel Black Label bacon. Congratulations to all!