I almost forgot about Bacon Sandwich Quest, and then Gary sent me a link to this Guardian article and the piggy goodness was duly returned to front of mind. Bacon, bacon, lovely bacon.
What's clear from the article and comments beneath is that bacon sandwiches are a very personal matter. There's a lot to consider. Streaky/back, white/brown, soft/crusty, smoked/unsmoked, red/brown/other, buttered/unbuttered, grilled/griddled/fried.
I've already discussed the options at some length and for the record I'm usually an unsmoked grilled or fried back bacon, soft buttered white bread, brown sauce kind of guy. Variations are possible, but not when it comes to sauce. Brown is the correct choice. Ketchup is for chips and sausages. Ok? Good. And as for mustard??
So how did I get on in February? Terribly. I only ate two bacon sarnies, neither of which were very exciting. The Wilson's pie van offering had great potential, but was let down by chewy, wizened bacon. Excellent quality bacon mind, with a wonderful flavour, but surely there's a way of keeping it warm on the van without it drying out so much. They also lost out by having no brown sauce. Schoolboy error. If I ever get one of these while the goods are fresh we could have a contender.
The Knowsley Spar effort was mediocre in every way, and not worth discussing further.
Here's the leader board so far:
Let's hope March is more exciting.....
What's clear from the article and comments beneath is that bacon sandwiches are a very personal matter. There's a lot to consider. Streaky/back, white/brown, soft/crusty, smoked/unsmoked, red/brown/other, buttered/unbuttered, grilled/griddled/fried.
I've already discussed the options at some length and for the record I'm usually an unsmoked grilled or fried back bacon, soft buttered white bread, brown sauce kind of guy. Variations are possible, but not when it comes to sauce. Brown is the correct choice. Ketchup is for chips and sausages. Ok? Good. And as for mustard??
Wilson's: squandered potential. Could have achieved great things.
So how did I get on in February? Terribly. I only ate two bacon sarnies, neither of which were very exciting. The Wilson's pie van offering had great potential, but was let down by chewy, wizened bacon. Excellent quality bacon mind, with a wonderful flavour, but surely there's a way of keeping it warm on the van without it drying out so much. They also lost out by having no brown sauce. Schoolboy error. If I ever get one of these while the goods are fresh we could have a contender.
Knowsley Industrial Estate Spar: the mushrooms couldn't save it.
The Knowsley Spar effort was mediocre in every way, and not worth discussing further.
Here's the leader board so far:
| Venue | Where's that? | Bacon | Bread | Accompa-niments | Value | Service | Total |
| Rumbletums | Otley | 8 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 22 |
| Wilsons pie van | Leeds | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| Cosy Caf | Bollington | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| Monty's | Windsor | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| Spar | Knowsley | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
| McDonalds | A19 Billingham | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
Let's hope March is more exciting.....
Used to be a brown sauce fan but have gone off it over the last few years, now tend to go for bacon & mushrooms with a good pinch of black pepper white cheap roll
ReplyDeleteLoving this! Can't wait to see how it progresses.
ReplyDeleteI'm following your bacon sarnie posts with interest, I haven't ever had a bacon sarnie out that beats a homemade one!
ReplyDeleteJools - mushrooms and pepper sounds good. I only like a smear of brown sauce tbh, it's easy to overdo it.
ReplyDeletePavel - cheers. Might have to go upmarket at some point to see how the posh ones perform..
Rach - cheers. Strangely I actually tend to prefer bought bacon sarnies to home-made ones. No idea why.
It amazes me how wrong some people can get something so simple as a bacon sandwich. Of course, you have to account for personal preference (as you quite rightly noted), but even the basics seem to go over the head of so many places. Good luck with the quest!
ReplyDeleteAntony - thanks. The personal preference point seems to be most important when it comes to sauce. The red/brown debate is quite fierce!
ReplyDelete