Bacon in France!

One thing that ex pats here in France often complain about missing, is a good old traditional rasher of bacon. Be it streaky, middle or back, there is just none to be had over here, excepting from a few enterprising British butchers who have set up shop for themselves!

To be fair there are a few alternatives available, such as what passes for bacon over here...which is more akin to a Canadian bacon than anything a Brit would recognise as bacon. Whats more, most of this Canadian style bacon you find in France is processed, full of water, limp and extremely bland!

The second shopping option is easy to find and for some an acceptable alternative to bacon. Look out for "Poitrine Salé", "Lard Paysan" or "Poitrine Fumé" (smoked version), in the butchers or supermarket. This is easy to spot becauses it resembles a slab of streaky bacon. Looks promising you might think!! Unfortunately, these products are usually far more heavily salted than bacons are. They might be very good for adding to stews etc, but are not a great candidate for a breakfast rasher for the ol frying pan!

If you like your rashers salty, by all means try it for yourself, some are not too bad. Just be sure to get the butcher to slice it extra thin.....if you ask for a kilo sliced, you will most likely get it in  5 to 10mm strips rather than rashers, if you don't specify.

The really good news is that you can actually make your own REAL bacon at home, cheaply and very easily! You really don't need specialised equipment  (like you do for sausagemaking for example), although odd bits n pieces can be handy or add to the quality of the product.

An easy way to start, is to look out for the pork promotions over the winter in your local supermarkets. Each one does the promo at a different time, so you should not have a lot of problem finding one on...just watch "la pub". Whole bellies are the cheapest way to try your hand at bacon making. A whole belly "en promo" will probably weigh 5 or 6 kilos and cost between 1.40 and 1.80 € the kilo. They also usually have whole loins "longe" available for around 2€ the kilo, if you fancy your hand at a bit of back bacon.

Obviously this is going to be factory farmed and low quality supermarket pork, but its ideal for a trial run....if everything goes horribly wrong you are only out 10€. If it works out to your satisfaction....which I am confident it will.....you can always buy some really good quality free range pork for making truly great bacon in later batches. If you are really lucky, you may even be able to find traditional rare breed pigs available in your area.

Not only is bacon making economic and very simple to do, but there are also a number of different ways you can tailor it to your own taste! So why not give it a go...I am sure you will not regret it!

Back soon with the first of the bacon recipes!

Guy