I don’t know why but whenever I smell bacon cooking I can hear the voice of Chris Tarrant in his Tiswas days screaming “This is what they want!”. (For our none UK readers Tiswas was THE must see, manic Saturday morning kids show in the late 70s/early 80s) Perhaps its those childhood Saturday mornings, watching that very same show, as the mouth-watering smells of sizzling bacon wafted through the air. You see during the week it was cold milk and cereal for breakie, but the extra time at the weekends meant bacon was on the cards.

And oh that smell! It’s one of the only cooking smells which make me feel sorry for vegetarians as I swear they must be thinking twice about their lifestyle choice as they pass a sandwich shop in the morning and the aroma of cooking bacon takes to the air.

It doesn’t sound like a complicated thing the bacon sandwich, but there are different camps who support different ways of making one, and never the twain shall meet. Should it be back or streaky? Smoked or not? Sauce or no sauce? If so which kind of sauce will you have?

If you have ever gone out to get bacon sandwiches for several people (we used to do this at work an awful lot!), then you know you will be needing a pen to scrawl down the various and very specific requests.

Because if a bacon sandwich isn’t right for someone then it really isn’t alright. For example although I love tomato ketchup, put it in my bacon sandwich and you might as well have spat on it…it’s just yuk!

For me sauce is not for the bacon sandwich, as they simply taste too good “naked” to need anything else. At a push I can tolerate a light spread of butter (if from a shop or van), but otherwise I like it as nature (?) intended.

So here is how I make my bacon sandwich…

A crusty roll does better than sliced bread, although if you have to use sliced bread go for medium sliced white, you know a proper old school loaf.

But to make the perfect bacon sarnie you need the perfect crusty roll. I recommend finding the best crusty roll by shopping around local bakers, because in most places they are just way too dry (are you hearing me every supermarket in the UK?). A crusty roll should be like a mini bloomer loaf, crisp outer shell (the ones that look over browned on top is my preference),and inside soft, squidgy white bread. I buy mine from West London bakery chain Wenzel’s. They have a store in Baker Street station so there should be a few million of you passing by each day to try them out. They really do make cracking crusty rolls and the previously mentioned bloomer bread.

The bacon just has to be smoked streaky. I always go through the packs to find one which contains as close to an even 50/50 meat and fat split as possible. About 6 slices (half a packet) should do it.

It is a must that the bacon is fried, not put under the grill or into one of those “healthy” grilling machines, and nobody dare say the word “microwave”! This is not for people on a health kick, it’s a bacon sandwich for heavens sake. If you don’t want a greasy, delicious start to the day then go have some muesli or a salad!

Add a small amount of oil to the pan and fry until there are crispy parts but there are also some softer bits too.

This is where the roll comes in really handy, as when the bacon is cooked you need to scoop it all up with as much of the frying fat as you can and cram it into the roll. Drizzle some more of that fat over the bacon and onto the inside of the roll, think of it as a butter replacement. That crisp outer crust will stop the fat seeping through and drizzling down your arm. As you eat the roll it will get thinner and thinner as it soaks up the grease, the last bite always feels like there is way more bacon than bread…yum!

Using this technique with medium sliced bread will mean the bread will start to disintegrate about half way through eating…messy but very, very satisfying!

I had to make my bacon sandwich as described above to take some pics for you all to gawp at. In fact I ended up making two…not because I need to redo the photos, but because the first one was so damned delicious.

So try it this weekend and make you Saturday morning special with something simple.

How do you like your bacon sandwich? Are you in the sauce camp or not? Do you have any unusual ways of making one?

Michael Robinson

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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