She cooked a massive pork shoulder last night. (Which is gooooooood...) The juices collected in the bottom of the pan, settled themselves down into a demi-glace, and then... hardened into a brittle dense layer.
Speaking for the South, as I do, we would love to claim invention of pig candy. I think many cultures have come up with similar treats, however, so claiming it would be kinda like claiming the invention of fried, sweetened dough.
If you're so grossed out, what do you call maple syrup on bacon? Hmmm?
I think there's a wee bit o' difference between "Cooked meat which has had a sugar glaze added" and "Meat cooked until it caramelizes on its own and turns into a piece of slightly sweet, crunchy leather".
The bacon I use leaves very little fat behind after the cooking process--apparently many people don't understand that bacon is *meat*, and buy that paper-thin, wimpy stuff that leaves more mass rendered out in the pan than on the plate. No thank you.
My observation is that cuisines that rely on overpoweringly-spiced food tend to be from cultures that have a long history of poverty. The spices provide two benefits:
1) They kill the microorganisms, or at least knock them down sufficiently that people can handle them.
2) They mask the taste of spoiled food.
We, however, live in a time and a culture of mostly-adequate food safety standards, so we don't *need* to burn out our taste buds anymore. It's time to BACK THE HELL OFF.
Now, now, pepper cured isn't horribly overly peppered. (And frank has delicate taste buds. Really. Really, really doesn't like spices. Of any sort.)
What I don't care for is when the bacon is pepper *encrusted*. Slapping on coarsely ground peppercorn after curing is not the same as pepper cured. The latter is a lot harder to find, but has a much milder flavor. :\
My general point still holds, though. My rule when ordering spicy food is get it hot enough to sensitize the palate, to let the complex and subtle interactions of the flavors come through. If it's so overdone your taste buds can't distinguish anything past the hot, you're merely abusing yourself.
Some (many!) folks make "how hot can you stand?" into a macho thing. These folks are missing the entire point. I have an extremely high threshold of pain, but I don't go around carving my initials into my arm with a Swiss Army knife.
Oh, agreed. Heat for heat's sake is silly IMO. (Not that I haven't dropped wasabi bomb or two in my day...)
Sometimes, though, you run across an insanely hot food that is *also* tasty and flavorful despite the heat. Dixie's BBQ 'The Man' is in that category for me. The heat is unreal, but the flavor is *so* damned good that it makes it worth the pain. Well, that and the endorphins.
I've never met 'The Man'--everyone else I've talked to who has, has only reported how hot it was, and how cool they were for trying it. Perhaps someday I will after all.
Oh, it's frickin' hot, no doubt about it. I tried it for the macho factor, I'll admit it. I keep going back for it because of the flavor.
Make no mistake, it is so hot it caused my gums to physically *bleed* the first time... but it actually has a wonderful range of flavors I haven't run across in a less painful format. Go figure.
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(And it's Maple Bacon *Bar* for the true snob^h^h^h^hconnisewer.)
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Which she felt the need to gleefully point out.
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Hahaahaha!
http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/12/how-to-make-pig-candy.html
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THERE'S SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH Y'ALL!
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If you're so grossed out, what do you call maple syrup on bacon? Hmmm?
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I think there's a wee bit o' difference between "Cooked meat which has had a sugar glaze added" and "Meat cooked until it caramelizes on its own and turns into a piece of slightly sweet, crunchy leather".
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Cow just don't cook up the way pork do.
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Damn your distractions when I'm running out the door!
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Meat + sugar glaze = yum.
Meat that *BECOMES* sugar glaze = ewwww.
(I believe the quote from last night was...
"Cow just don't fry up the way pig do.")
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(If you wait until the bacon's done, the fond is burnt. Not so much with the mmmm.)
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Crispy bacon? Not a problem. Pork rinds? Mmmm. (Only on long road trips for some reason.)
Fat that is soft, semi-soft, liquid, gooey or otherwise not crispy? Instant gag.
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The bacon I use leaves very little fat behind after the cooking process--apparently many people don't understand that bacon is *meat*, and buy that paper-thin, wimpy stuff that leaves more mass rendered out in the pan than on the plate. No thank you.
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Oddly, bacon fond... not a fan, even though I'm a bacon whore otherwise.
Beef fond though? Chicken? All over it.
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1) They kill the microorganisms, or at least knock them down sufficiently that people can handle them.
2) They mask the taste of spoiled food.
We, however, live in a time and a culture of mostly-adequate food safety standards, so we don't *need* to burn out our taste buds anymore. It's time to BACK THE HELL OFF.
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What I don't care for is when the bacon is pepper *encrusted*. Slapping on coarsely ground peppercorn after curing is not the same as pepper cured. The latter is a lot harder to find, but has a much milder flavor. :\
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Some (many!) folks make "how hot can you stand?" into a macho thing. These folks are missing the entire point. I have an extremely high threshold of pain, but I don't go around carving my initials into my arm with a Swiss Army knife.
Anymore.
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Sometimes, though, you run across an insanely hot food that is *also* tasty and flavorful despite the heat. Dixie's BBQ 'The Man' is in that category for me. The heat is unreal, but the flavor is *so* damned good that it makes it worth the pain. Well, that and the endorphins.
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Make no mistake, it is so hot it caused my gums to physically *bleed* the first time... but it actually has a wonderful range of flavors I haven't run across in a less painful format. Go figure.
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I need some lunch.
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But crackin'/pig candy *nachos*?!?
aiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiai
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:D
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