What’s With The Bacon Fetish?

I watch quite a few food shows, and lately (or maybe I’m just noticing it more) there has been a kind of orgasmic reaction to bacon by these chefs. I was watching Anne Burrell on Food Network who was making Coq au vin, and when she got to the part about adding bacon, it was like none of the other ingredients mattered. I’m sure the rendered fat and salt that added to the flavor of the dish was key to its overall yumminess. But the way she went on and on about freakin’ bacon you’d think this gal never had any other meat in her life. All the “Mmmms” “Ahhhs” “Oh. My. Gods” and so forth got me thinking either this woman really needs to get laid, or she’s getting some kind of payola from the pork product council. Maybe both.

And then during the holidays, I was watching another Food Network show that centered on Christmas — and what the Food Network chefs like to make for the holiday. Michael Symon…you know, this guy…

…gets on TV and talks about the bacon of the month club he belongs to and how much he loves bacon. Okay, I get it. Salt and fat fried to a crisp does taste pretty good. But then he went into overdrive sales mode and became a bacon barker outside of pork peep show. Almost every time he said “bacon” he oversold the word like Burrell did. He eyes were always wide, he had this “come hither” smile on his face, and, quite frankly he looked like a devil trying to tempt me with crack and whores. No one could be that obsessed with bacon, could they? Well, there are people who can be obsessed with anything, but why this particular meat? I don’t see people get all weak in the knees about steak, chicken, lamb, or non-bacon pork product. Yet, some of these meats are just as (if not more) popular than bacon.

And then there’s “bacon goes with anything” fetish. You know, bacon chocolate bars, bacon ice cream, bacon hot sauce, bacon doughnuts, bacon jam, bacon wrapped cream cheese, bacon pretzels, and so on… Why? If I said “Salted fried chicken strip chocolate fondue” it would probably activate your gag reflex. But if it’s salted fried pork combined with something sweet? Well, the line forms on the left, my friends.

Oh, bacon…why?