I’ve said before that it’s impossible to collect meat in the traditional sense unless you’re going the well-preserved jerky route, but when it comes to any food-based ‘Of The Month’ club, the definition of ‘collecting’ can be shifted into something a little more transient. Does a collection of something need to exist permanently, or does every item need to exist at the same time? Does the ‘object’ in question need to be in your possession, or can it be a well-remembered experience within a theme? Are roller coaster enthusiasts who pursue upside-down thrills across the U.S.A. any less ‘collectors’ than someone who has a drawer full of matchbooks?

Of course, all of this philosophical meandering always leads me to one thing : bacon. I’m known as something of a ‘bacon freak’ among my comrades. For much of high school, I ate what I called ‘The American Heart Association Lunch’ – a whole lot of bacon on a buttered roll, which remains a favorite snack even today. Friends have gifted me with bacon-themed wallets and band-aids and shirts, and it’s pretty much not a complete day until I have a bit of the hog. It was a stroke of bizarre coincidence when I dated a few vegetarian girls in a row, so my friend Dan (who’d later become a vegan) deftly suggested that I hide bacon in my cheeks when I’d kiss one of them in an effort to convert them back to the meat-side.

It wasn’t as successful as I’d imagined it might be, and I stopped listening to Dan.

So, in my never-ending quest for bacon delights, I came across no less than three different Bacon Of The Month clubs. My potential favorite of the three presented me with the slogan ‘Bacon is Meat Candy’ – which I couldn’t agree with more. And, in honor of today, the Second Annual International Bacon Day, I asked Bacon Of The Month Club and BaconFreak.com proprietor Rocco Loosbrook how his Bacon Of The Month club started.

“It’s kind of one of those dumb luck situations that you just stumble onto. I was on a business trip in Kentucky, so of course I wanted to go out for some breakfast to experience some of that real ’southern hospitality’. Anyway, I ordered breakfast and when the waitress served it, I immediately noticed that the bacon was absolutely huge, all thick and plump and sticking way out of the breakfast sandwich that I ordered.”

Thus began Rocco’s growing love affair with bacon. Well, REAL bacon – the uniquely hand-prepared and loved bacon, not the generic, inconsistent and water-fattened store-brand stuff. “I bought some for myself before I left and took it home and started sharing it with friends, relatives and colleagues. Everybody that tried it absolutely ‘freaked’ – thus the name ‘Bacon Freak’ was born – and they all insisted that I go back as soon as possible and get a bunch more. It wasn’t long after that that I was in the bacon business.”

So, like a lovingly crafted mixtape of meat, subscribers are treated to month after month of expertly crafted bacon. I’ve always loved the surprise that comes with any ‘Of The Month’ club – you might not love every single item that comes along, but the exposure to the unusual or those things that you’d otherwise not try is where the value lies, and when you experience something heavenly, it’s worth all of the trial and error in the world.

While the only bacon that I’ve ever collected into my meat-xperience has been ‘salt’ or ‘maple’ in nature, I’m informed that the full range of bacons extends far beyond this limited spectrum. “Each piece of bacon is hand rubbed with various flavors such as cajun, apple cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla bourbon or sun dried tomato to ensure that you get a burst of flavor when you take a bite.”

Loosbrook’s personal favorite bacon is, understandably, his own creation. “Boss Hog Bacon is sugar cured and hickory smoked. Our dry cured bacon will not shrink like packing house bacon because no water is added or used in the curing process. We use a time-honored secret formula and you can certainly tell the difference in taste – this bacon has sweet and hammy pork flavors, boasts an intense flavor and the meat is succulent. Finally, a new bacon that is bold enough to stand up and say, ‘Eat me’.”

This is followed by their Bourbon Street Cajun Bacon and Coastal Caliente Smoked Jalapeno Bacon, so if you’re looking to sample some bacon before you dive head-first into a monthly experience, this is the way to go. This is a man passionate about his meats. For him, it’s about contrast : “The reason why Bacon Freak bacon is so perfect to me is because we have all had bad bacon, which makes good bacon even more exciting.”

Gourmet food it not an inexpensive taste, as most are produced in small, hand-crafted batches, so Bacon Freak offers a selection of options which all include two packages of bacon delivered safely and swiftly to your doorstep once a month, for different spans of time. You can commit to a full year of bacon, or you can join on a month-to-month basis. Either way, you’ll never have to leave the house in search of bacon again, and you even get a neat bonus package, including a t-shirt (in case you DO need to leave the house), recipes, games and a bacon air freshener. Of course, you can buy things in regular quantities also. For some, bacon isn’t as common an event as others. Let us mourn for those people.

Loosbrook’s clubs don’t stop at bacon though, as the site also offers steak, jelly, sausage, ribs, lobster, olives, barbecue sauce and ham – all on a monthly basis, each one a collection of sensory delights that can be enjoyed legally within your own home. I’m a firm believer that any food that you don’t have to put your shoes on to get is good food, so swing on by Bacon Freak and consider sampling some of the most versatile of all meats.

---

================

Gotta Collect? Then You Gotta Connect - Join our Collectors’ Community!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 2:00 am and is filed under collecting fyi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.