As a little kid I would wake up on Sunday mornings to the aromatic perfume of pork fat evaporating off the stove. Brunch was always a delicious spread of German deli, scrambled eggs, fresh baked rolls and an entire package of bacon strips that my Mom cooked slowly on a skillet until we were all out of bed. The innocence of fighting over the last piece of bacon with my sisters is one of my favorite memories.
These days, however, I don’t have to fight for it. Bacon is in every store and on every menu. It is served for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. It comes in different shapes and sizes from prosciutto, to pancetta, to pork belly to traditional sliced strips. It has steadily become an America favorite that we in Key West have, like the rest of the country, come to embrace.
At 2 Cents they celebrate an endless bacon happy hour with all you can eat bacon, and local cookbook author David Sloan couldn’t resist including a recipe for a bacon key lime pie in his latest work. When I asked several locals to name their favorite bacon dish on the island there were just too many responses to single out just one.
I guess bacon really does make everything better.
I decided to come up with my own ABC’s on some of the most popular ways to eat bacon in Key West.
A is for the Avocado BLT at Cole’s Peace Bakery on thick house made white bread
B is for the BBQ bacon wrapped shrimp at 2 Cents
C is for bacon Chocolate at Lush Bar
D is for the maple bacon Donut at Glazed Donuts
E is for the Endless Bacon Happy Hour at 2 Cents
F is for the bacon cheese Fries at Sunset Pier
G is for the Grilled Asparagus Salad wrapped in prosciutto at Michaels
H is for the bacon Hot Sauce at Peppers of Key West
I is for the homemade bacon Infused vodka in Camille’s signature bacon Bloody Mary
J is for bacon Jam from SkilletStreetFood.com
K is for the “No Mistakin’ Bacon Key Lime Pie” recipe by David Sloan, author of the Key Lime Pie Cookbook
L is for the Lobster Bacon Benedict at Blue Heaven
M is for the Melon and Prosciutto at Le Creperie
N is for the Irish bacon Nachos at Finnegan’s Wake (and the Irish Bacon BLT)
O is for the Rockefeller Oysters at Alonzo’s Oyster Bar with spinach, bacon and Parmesan
P is for the Pasta Carbonara with pancetta and cream sauce at Azur
Q is for Frenchie’s Cafe classic potato Quiche layered with potato, onions and crumbled bacon
R is for the chunk of pork belly that goes into the house Ramen at Kojin Noodle Bar
S is for the bacon wrapped Scallops with maple syrup mashed sweet potatoes at Flaming Buoy
T is for the Tapas at Santiago’s Bodega like the goat cheese stuffed and prosciutto wrapped dates
U is for always adding applewood bacon (but no ketchup) to the Umami Burger at Garbo’s Grill
V is for the Vegan friendly fake bacon “FLT” sandwich at Sugar Apple
W is for the “Fig and Pig” White Pizza loaded with both traditional American bacon and Italian prosciutto at Roostica
And X, Y and Z are for always ordering extra bacon, because you can never have enough!
