Bacon case law

Bacon Unwrapped's Legal Analyst (as in my college roommate, who shall remain anonymous, is a law clerk and was looking for a reason to procrastinate at work today) did some research of instances where the word "bacon" has appeared in case law. She found a few entertaining examples. Enjoy!

In a case about sexual harassment of a Canadian citizen:
"Use of vulgar, sexist language at the Sheriff's Office was a daily occurrence. During her employment, men in the office called Wright a 'big-breasted Canadian secretary,' a 'dizzy bitch,' and 'Canadian bacon.' Wright was offended and embarrassed by this name calling. Sims admits to this name calling and admits he did it in front of others. On one occasion, Sims referred to Wright as 'Canadian bacon' at a Peace Officer's Association meeting, and all in attendance heard the comment." Wright v. Rolette County, 417 F.3d 879, 882 (8th Cir. 2005)

In a case dealing with anti-solicitation laws:
"The term 'spam' derives from a 1970 Monty Python Flying Circus sketch in which a waitress recites a menu containing 'egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam . . . .' (citing Roger Allen Ford, Comment, Preemption of State Spam Laws by the Federal CAN-SPAM ACT, 72 U. CHI. L. REV. 355, 355 n.1 (2005)).
White Buffalo Ventures, LLC v. Univ. of Texas, 420 F.3d 366, 368 n.1 (5th Cir. 2005)

In a breach of contract case where the parties were disputing the meaning of their Weaned Pig Purchase Agreement:
"Always remember the distinction between contribution and commitment. Take the matter of bacon and eggs. The chicken makes a contribution. The pig makes a commitment." (citing John Mack Carter) Pieper, Inc. v. Land O'Lakes Farmland Feed, LLC, 390 F.3d 1062, 1065 n.2 (8th Cir. 2004)

In a case about excessive police force, someone testified about his observations on seeing the plaintiff shocked with a taser gun:
"I kept watching him right there real close. We had the IV in him. I was over at my counter, and when I turned around -- well, my counter was something like this, and he was -- he was more like about where that wall is, right there, to that area where I'm at. And all of a sudden, I heard something sizzling like bacon. They call it like bacon. As a matter of fact, I said that."
McBride v. Clark, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9143, at *26 (W.D. Mo., Mar. 8 2006)

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Bacon that's good for the heart

Can you imagine being able to eat bacon that actually helps your heart? Well a group of university researchers is working on creating such a thing. Apparently they have created cloned pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish are thought to decrease chances of heart disease. And it's not often that I favorably quote the New York Times, but they said it best when they said that this could be the "nutritional holy grail."

I'm sure some idiot activists will make it very difficult for such a dream food to reach the shelves of U.S. grocery stores, despite numerous studies that have proven various types of genetically modified foods to be safe for consumption. But in the meantime, we can now dream of a day when bacon is both tasty and healthy...

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Presidential Pig Farming

I have relatives visiting me in DC this weekend. So today we went to Mount Vernon, George and Martha Washington's estate south of DC. I've been to Mount Vernon many times over the years. But I haven't been there since starting this blog, so certain things stood out that I hadn't noticed before.

Apparently the Washington's were quite fond of ham and bacon that came from hogs raised on the estate. "Virginia Ladies value themselves on the goodness of their bacon," said George Washington in a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette. According to another sign posted near the Smokehouse at Mount Vernon, "because of its savory bounty, the smokehouse was an occasional target for raids. The structure was built without windows, but in one instance, a thief tore away a siding plank to gain access." Now that's a serious pork craving.

President Washington raised a rare breed of Ossabaw Island Hogs that date back to the Spanish explorers of the 17th century. Washington’s hogs ran wild in the woods until they were caught, fattened on corn and potatoes, and slaughtered for food each fall.

I've lived in DC off and on over the last 15 years, and after living here for a while it's too easy to begin taking the things you are surrounded by for granted. So it's always a treat to discover something new about a familiar place. And as a result, I've earned a new level of respect for our first president!

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What happens when you mix bacon with wine on a Monday night?

A hangover on Tuesday - that's what happens when you mix bacon with wine on a Monday night. But it was a hangover worth the pain, because it was induced by Chef Greggory Hill's monthly Aphrodisiac Bacon Dinner.

As a continuation of our 'adventures in pork' at David Greggory RestauLounge in Washington, DC, we finally were able to attend one of these highly regarded dinners last night. And once again, Chef Hill did not disappoint.

When you walk in the front door of David Greggory on the night of a Bacon Dinner, you are immediately hit with the scent of cooking bacon. It is amazing to me that people were able to eat in the regular dining room and order non-bacon dishes while being immersed in the bacon aroma. After a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar, we were escorted to the back of the restaurant where the private dining room had been set up for the event. At the entrance to the dining room was a display of pig paraphernalia that Chef Hill has collected over time. We were particularly fascinated by the pig lighters.

A representative from The Grateful Palate was on hand to host the evening and take us on a tour of the Australian wines we were 'sampling' (sampling being a loosely used term). We had a couple pre-dinner glasses of wine and bacon appetizers. The Nodine's Garlic Bacon wrapped tempura bananas were definitely my favorite appetizer. A bacon wrapped tuna loin was also served. The appetizers were matched with Scarpantoni Chardonnay from McLaren Vale, Australia.

We were then seated at our table which was garnished with miniature rubber pigs that quickly became the focalpoint of entertainment for the evening. Several of the photos I've posted here include the various poses that were produced with the pigs, although I have censored out some of the more X-rated versions. :)

The first course was Shad Roe wrapped in Burger's Country Bacon and served with potato crisps and lemon-thyme butter sauce. This course was matched with Paringa White Wine from South Australia. Next up came Newsome's Smoked Bacon roulade with corn beef, cabbage and vegetable puree in the spirit of St. Patty's Day, which was matched with RBJ Theologicum from the Barossa Valley. That was one of my favorite courses. After that came the Hempler's Bacon and chipotle-cherry sausage with Guinness Glaze and mashed potatoes, which was spicy and also fantastic. That course was served with Trevor Jones' Boots Grenache (and yes, Jayne, Grenache is a grape). Last, we went back to Burger's bacon again which was served in a pork ravioli with a smoky spinach and tomato sauce. I actually had to have someone remind me this morning that we had ravioli, but once I remembered I do recall it being very delicious! The last course was served with Burge Family The Redoux, also from the Barossa region.

And of course there was the grand finale - bacon dessert - which was a chocolate truffle with Edward's Brown Sugar Bacon and a caramel-almond sauce. Absolutely outstanding - once again, I was pleasantly surprised by how good bacon can taste for dessert. And the dessert was matched with Jonesy Old Tawny Port - I'm a big port fan, which is actually something I acquired a taste for while studying abroad in Australia many years ago, so I might have stolen a couple extra glasses from my dining companions but just can't remember for sure...

The night was capped off with parting gifts that included a pound of bacon. And of course we had one more cocktail at the bar to shut the place down properly. The Aphrodisiac Bacon Dinner is an awesome dining experience and an absolute blast. We're not worthy, Chef Hill.

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Where meat lovers meet

The Annual Meat Conference comes to an end today in Dallas. Yes, there is such a thing as a "Meat Conference" - I just love that they didn't try to get fancy about their name and they call it what it is! This is an annual educational event for meat and poultry retailers. And of course, product tasting is a big part of the conference. Some of the bacon exhibitors include Bar-S Foods, Seaboard Farms, Smithfield, Bob Evans, Maverick Ranch, and Premium Standard Farms. Next year I may have to look into press credentials to cover this event and taste for myself...

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Bacon my wiener

I'm in Idaho for a week to visit family and go skiing in Sun Valley. Tonight I went out with my brother in Boise, and on our way home we stopped to visit my favorite Boise street vendor. This time I had "Bacon-the-Wiener" which is a foot long hot dog topped with four strips of bacon, served on a bun with your choice of condiments. I had the jalepeno cheese and mustard with mine. I think I like this even better than the Chick Bacon on a Tater. My brother had "Bacon-the-Tater" which is the same concept as Bacon-the-Wiener except it is served with a mesquite grilled potato instead of a hot dog. And fortunately tonight I did not get pulled over for a DUI check by Boise's finest because I failed to use a blinker while eating my hot dog (as happened a year ago).

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Bacon High School

How cool would it be to be a student at Bacon High School?! The only thing they didn't get right is the mascot...the Spartans? I'm willing to bet a strip of bacon doing cartwheels would get the crowd pumped up more than some dude wearing a helmut and skirt.

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Exploiting Bacon

France is a strange country. There are a lot of things about French culture that defy common sense. But one of the more disturbing things I've come across recently is the "solidarity movement" of a group called the Identity Bloc, whose mission is to fight multiculturalism in Europe. Apparently this group of wackos did not learn any lessons from WW2, but also disturbing is their use of "pig soup" as a form of protest. How can soup be a form of protest, you ask? This particular soup is very French in origin - it is an Alsatian recipe made with smoked bacon, pigs' ears, feet and tails, vegetables and sausages. The Identity Bloc goes around France serving the soup to the homeless and hungry - with their mission being to "serve our own before we serve others" (ie immigrants). While feeding the homeless may seem like an honorable thing to do, the protest comes in the fact that the soup is meant to exclude those who do not eat pork, primarily Muslims and Jews. Very very disturbing.

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La Plat de Porc

Last week while in Brussels for work, I went to dinner with some colleagues at the infamous Belgian restaurant, Aux Armes de Bruxelles.

Most of us were offered the english menu that included standard items a tourist might want to experience at a traditional Belgian restaurant (ie mussels, croquettes, escargot, frites, etc). But one of my colleagues who is based in Brussels asked for the menu in french, which offered several items not on the english menu. One such item was the Choucroute Garnie...which basically translates into "a big freakin' plate of pork and sauerkraut." Obviously that is what I ordered.

It was impossible to capture the full pork experience in a photograph, so this is as close as we could get. This traditional Alsatian dish included 6 different pork items - two pieces of thick cut bacon, two slices of ham and two sausages. I'm not exactly sure what kind of sausages they were, but they along with everything else on the plate were absolutely de-lic-ious! I don't even like sauerkraut (yes, I know this is disrespecting my German ancestors) but found it tolerable in this arrangement.

So if you're ever in Brussels, I suggest 1) dining at Aux Armes de Bruxelles and 2) asking for the french menu, even if you don't speak french!

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