Pork and Bacon

I absolutely love Irish bacon. It has a unique flavour quite unlike bacon from any other country, yet somehow it is looked on as the ‘poor relation’ of other meats and considered by many to be ‘fine’ for a family meal, but nothing like ‘grand’ enough for entertaining. I don’t agree. I quite often serve Glazed Loin of Bacon for a dinner party with Piperonata or Tomato Fondue and either Colcannon or Champ and every scrap disappears! It never fails to re-convert people to the most traditional of Irish meats. However, a word of caution: if you want to find really good bacon you have to search carefully. I buy my bacon from several sources, one being a pork and bacon shop in Cork which has been in the same family for three generations. They choose their bacon carefully and exact a high standard from their suppliers so that the bacon and pork is not tainted with strong flavours or cured with too much salt. The result is delicious sweet bacon that leaves one licking one’s lips and wishing for more.