Monday, August 11, 2008

Is "Everything" Truly Better With Bacon?

It makes me proud to see that creativity is alive and well in Santa Cruz California. At Marini's candy shop at the
Boardwalk amusement park you'll find the ultimate treat; chocolate-coated bacon.“It was kind of a joke to begin with,
" said the owner, Joseph Marini III.

Here are three little words that might give the staunchest snacker pause: Chocolate-covered bacon.
It sounds so wrong. But it tastes just right, says Joseph Marini III, a fourth-generation candy maker who is selling the bacon bonbons at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk seaside amusement park.
“It's not just for breakfast any more,” he says with a grin.

It's hard to tell exactly where the dream of candy-coated breakfast meats started, but for Marini, the inspiration was a trip with some ski buddies a while back.
“One guy came up with, 'Who doesn't love bacon? Who doesn't love chocolate? Let's marry them together.'”

So Marini gave it a shot and after some trial and error — crispness is key, he says, noting that chewy bacon plus chocolate is undelicious — he came up with a product.
“It was kind of a joke to begin with,” he says. “We brought it down to the boardwalk and put it in a case just to see if people would react, and they reacted.”

Take boardwalk visitor Nathan Lopez, who on a recent foggy morning had a quizzical look on his face as he began eating a sample at Marini's at the Beach. But he finished with a smile.
“Interesting combination,” was the verdict. “I didn't think it would be very good but once I tried it; it was good.”

Of course, chocolate-coated bacon is just the latest incarnation of the wackier-the-better fair food philosophy.
Fair food has been shaking up the snack scene for some time, says Ron Whiting, of Whiting's Foods, whose family has been selling food at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for decades.
“Years ago, I think food tended to be more traditional and less fun,” he says. Then came the corn dog and the era of quick and on-a-stick. “We all talk about the next corn dog,” he says.
Fry, fry again is a persistent theme. Current popular snacks include deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos.

Page, who admits to eating "more than my fair share of fried dough," notes that gourmet chefs have taken to putting food — just about any food — on a stick, coming up with some posh Popsicles. Meanwhile, there's the foie gras-cotton candy matchup, not a stretch flavor-wise since foie gras usually is paired with something sweet, but certainly visually arresting.
“It's the melding of both these worlds, the high end and the low end,” said Page.

Never underestimate the appeal of battered-is-better.

source: Associated Press

14 comments:

Julie Jams said...

Everything is always better with bacon.

Eddie Gehman Kohan said...

Great post! The fried dough element is fab!

We did our own adventures with cocolate & bacon: haphazardgourmet.blogspot.com/2008/03/haphazard-adventures-pigs-in-shizzle.html

xxx!

Chow! The Haphazard Gourmet Girls

Maggie said...

I bought my first bacon chocolate bar from Vosges with a tremendous amount of anticipation. I set it aside for later and my husband found it and gobbled it up. I was furious! Several weeks later when I got another I was even more eager to try it. The thing is, I didn't like it! Their chocolate is excellent but the bacon-chocolate combination didn't work for me. My husband loves it though.

NKP said...

I'd try it!

Julie said...

I'd eat all of it with gusto and go back for seconds!

Joel said...

Yes, everything is better. Everything. Thanks, I'm hungry now. (Again.)

The Outlaw Baker said...

How about a battered, deep fried, chocolate covered pretzel with bacon?

Anne said...

It should be 'wrong' but it does sound rather tempting!!

Anonymous said...

We were just at the Boardwalk. I can't believe I missed this. All I have to say is wow..

Bentoist said...

"Everything with chocolate is good" + "everything with bacon is good" = something that sounds so wrong.

Now I have to drive to Santa Cruz in order to to try this strange marriage.

Carla said...

Actually, I watched Michael Symon do chocolate covered bacon on his new show Dinner Impossible on Food Network. I've been wanting to try it ever since! Too bad I don't live near CA.

Jescel said...

salty and sweet.. this combo is always a winner in my book...kinda weird, but i'm sure it works.. hope i can try this one day :o)

Anonymous said...

Chocolate...excellent. Bacon...superb. Together? Maybe I'm not as adventurous as i thought i was.

Anonymous said...

what a find! basic algebra tells me, if i love bacon, and i love chocolate, i bet i'd love chocolate covered bacon. this has me thinking...the world may need a bacon toffee next!