Esch and Lefkow caught the wave, launching Bacon Salt in 2007 from their garage in Seattle. The product, now in nine flavors, has sold 750,000 jars. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart recently christened their latest invention Baconnaise, saying "Baconnaise, for people who want to get heart disease but, [are], you know, too lazy to actually make bacon."
"It's the world's most perfect food," Lefkow rhapsodizes. "It's deliciously fatty and smoky and savory and sweet."
Heather Lauer started the Bacon Unwrapped blog four years ago on a lark, but she drew a following, and now her book, Bacon: A Love Story, published by William Morrow, comes out in May.
The former Washington, D.C., public affairs consultant, who lives in Phoenix, has been known to wear a scarf that looks like a long strip of you know what. She wore it, in fact, to the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival this month in Des Moines, Iowa.
But it's not like she eats bacon daily. "I wouldn't be alive if I did," she says. When she does, however, it can be like it was at the festival - bacon Bloody Marys in the morning till evening closes with Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots and Candied Bacon.
The bacon scene simmers in Baltimore, too.
At Bad Decisions bar in Fells Point, people clamor for the Bacon and Beer Happy Hours. The next one is set for April 14.
Bar owner John Reusing infuses his whole menu with bacon - he's done bacon-wrapped plantains and cheesy bacon fries - and places big bowls of bacon on the bar.
"At the last one, I went through 30 pounds of bacon in about two hours," he says.
At Golden West Cafe in Hampden, bar manager Jen Patterson has attracted baconistas with her Bacon Bulleit, a cocktail of bourbon, lemon and maple syrup with applewood smoked bacon replacing the swizzle stick.
Though some social prognosticators have declared bacon dead, it seems quite alive and kicking. With Lauer's book coming out in a couple of months and the creators of the Bacon Explosion getting a book deal, too, the future seems to hold only more bacon.
Lefkow says that if the cool kids no longer are eating bacon, then good - more for him. "Let the hipsters have their foie gras," he says. "We'll eat the bacon."
blue-cheese bacon dip
(serves 2)
3 to 4 slices bacon
4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
Cut bacon slices in half and cook till crispy. (The microwave works great. Simply lay the slices between two paper towels and microwave according to package instructions.)
Put the cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles in a microwave safe dish and microwave until it's just melting. Remove from microwave and stir till blended. Crumble bacon and add to dip until you get the cheese-to-bacon ratio that you desire.
Serve with crackers and/or fruit slices (apple and pear work nicely).
Courtesy of Dan Taylor of Lutherville
Per serving: : 279 calories, 10 grams protein, 26 grams fat, 15 grams saturated fat, 2 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 79 milligrams cholesterol, 505 milligrams sodium
The nutritional analyses accompanying recipes in Wednesday's You section were calculated by registered dietitian Jodie Shield.
