Famed bacon-curer Allan Benton of Madisonville, Tennesse, will make the trip north to attend the first annual Camp Bacon! Allan will join Ari and other bacon makers from around the country to share his craft with everyone in attendance at the Main Event on Saturday from 9am to 3pm and be joining the Bacon Party at Zingerman’s Southside on Plaza Drive from 3 to 5pm.
As Ari writes in Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon: “Benton’s bacon has been written up in the New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur and probably just about every other major food magazine. It’s the favorite of famed Momofuku chef David Chang. I could go on listing the famous fans but, for me, it’s really about how the stuff tastes. The length of the cure and the long smoke time (48 hours—nearly twice what most folks do) are clearly the biggest contributors to the intensity of the Benton’s flavor .This is not a bacon that lingers casually out on the edge of your eating. It’s a deep confluence of smoke, salt and sweet: none dominates, all are pronounced. My favorite thing is to serve it—and its fat, in all its smoky glory—over a bowl of hot mush made from exceptional Anson Mills cornmeal.”