Happy National Bacon Lover’s Day! Are You In?

National Bacon Lover’s Day is dedicated to the popular treat cut from the meat of a pig. In the United States, bacon refers to meat from the belly of the pig, known as the pork belly. Bacon from the loin is called Canadian bacon. To make bacon, the pork is cured using salt, and is then dried, boiled, or smoked. The smoking of bacon is often done with hickory, mesquite, or maple wood, and flavors such as brown sugar or maple may be added. More often than not, bacon is pan fried, and it is popular as a breakfast food, in sandwiches like the BLT or club sandwich, as a complement to salads, and in wrapping other foods. “Bacon mania” has swept the United States and Canada since the late 1990’s, where there has been a great increase in the amount of bacon being eaten, and in the amount of new bacon recipes. The high sodium and nitrate content of bacon that lower its health benefits has not seemed to much slow down the bacon craze.

If there ever is a day to not worry about eating too much bacon this is it! Bacon is so versatile that you can eat it at every meal: Fry it with your eggs for breakfast. Have a BLT for lunch. Put it on a burger for dinner. Wrap asparagus or scallops with it for a snack. Here are a wide variety of recipes for bacon, and here are some bacon appetizer recipes.