The Bacon Sandwich. Go on, you know you want one...

Why is it that if you ask a meat eater why they couldn’t become a vegetarian they invariably answer, “It’s the bacon sandwich, you see. I couldn’t give up the bacon sandwich.”

And I too am one of those meat eaters who wouldn’t give up the bacon sandwich. Back in the day when pregnant with my first born, who happens to become a vegetarian, I decided to go veggie for a few months. I say veggie…veggie except for Sunday nights when it was traditional to sit down with a bacon sandwich. It didn’t last long, my fling with vegetarianism that is, though come to think of it neither did the sandwich.

Now in those days, I just used to have butter and sometimes ketchup. Thrown inside two slices of whatever bread we had in the house. Thankfully times have changed and since I try to stay away from the bread these days, when I do fall off the wagon in that department it’s normally something a bit more special than plain sliced white. Actually when you haven’t had bread for a while plain sliced white sounds rather appetising…

If I put my bacon sandwich in the nutri bullet with a few tomatoes does that make it a healthy juice?
— katie mccarthy (@ktmac87) June 10, 2015

But I digress. Back to the matter in hand. And who wouldn’t (vegetarians excepted) like a chunky bacon butty, sandwich, roll, sarnie, call it what you will in your hand right now? Okay Ed Miliband wouldn’t either but we’ll ignore him along with most of the voting public.

For those thinking David Miliband would have done any better than Ed. THIS. The equivalent of Ed’s bacon sandwich. pic.twitter.com/HGMI9vpcKf
— Peter Smith (@Redpeter99) June 11, 2015

So as I was saying it used to be ketchup, butter and bread until one day a visiting friend asked for mustard and cheese in their sandwich. Interesting. It was not only interesting – it was delicious! I then had another friend who liked mayonnaise on one side of the bread with butter on the other, sprinkled with pepper before placing the bacon slices in the middle. So before I knew it my sandwich had grown from a couple of slices to a whole new mouth-watering experience involving cheese, mustard and mayonnaise ! I thought this would be the ultimate but of course the bacon sandwich is never one to stand still in terms of taste. Recently and I mean just this week I believe I have found the ultimate recipe for the bacon sandwich. Look no further for here it is: (courtesy of Buzz Feed)

Lay 5 strips (the thin type) of bacon on chopping board
Make a cheese sandwich with two pieces of your favourite bread, spread with whichever spread, mayo, mustard,red, brown sauce you please
Lay it at one end of the bacon and wrap it up in the bacon
Lay another 5 strips of bacon on board
Wrap again, perpendicular to the first five so creating a fully wrapped cheese sensation
Sear both sides in a pan over a medium heat. (5-7 mins /side)
Once both sides are crispy, stand sarni on the edges just to create that professional look.
Remove from pan
Slice in half and pig out!

Does that sound like heaven?

Even the dogs on twitter appreciate a good bacon sandwich

All I’m going to say is how rude eating that bacon sandwich and NOT sharing it! pic.twitter.com/FuFpqDV2xh
— Ted BT (@margueritehighs) June 6, 2015

Now of course I don’t wish to offend the vegetarians amongst us but if any have got this far and are feeling rather put out don’t forget that Quorn do allegedly make something that resembles a bacon strip. I’ve tasted it having brought up two vegetarians (all the more bacon sarni’s for me – why do you think I encouraged it??) and can honestly say WTH is that all about? I have one daughter who claims it’s the best thing Quorn produce because “it smells like proper bacon!” I’m sorry but it looks revolting and if you want proper bacon smells then surely…But there is no arguing with people with principles I guess.

So what makes the bacon sandwich food experience excellent? Is it the quality of the bacon? Well yes that does help. Now obviously the way the piggy has been reared goes a long way to helping the taste. Some chefs would opt for organic, some slow reared because along with these comes the ‘good look’. This type of bacon has a good proportion of lean to fat which makes it looks bright and hasn’t been pumped full of water like some can be. Okay it varies on price and we all have to watch the pennies – so my plea to you all would be buy whichever you like but make it BRITISH. The British farmers need our support. The best bacon is unprocessed and preferably cured with natural ingredients. The more ingredients on the list, the less good it is for you. A good rule of thumb, as my wise old grandmother used to say, “If you can’t pronounce it, maybe best avoid it?”

But we can all pronounce bacon –even after a heavy session the night before. And what is a better cure for a hangover than a bacon sandwich?