Bacon goes with everything, in my opinion. I remember the first time I tried a bacon-and-chocolate candy bar. It was over the top.
So, needless to say, I thought Memphis Flyer’s Bacon & Bourbon, which was held October 7th at the Metal Museum, was a great idea. A total of 550 people attended the sold-out event, which included 10 restaurants and caterers plus 20 bourbon brands.
This was the seventh Bacon & Bourbon event. Memphis Farmers Market was this year’s charitable partner.
And it included an extraordinary sunset, which wasn’t exactly the color of bacon, but it had reddish hues.
As the email announcement read, “We’ll have creative bacon-inspired dishes of all kinds from some great Memphis restaurants, plus a vast array of distilled spirits to tempt your tastebuds.”
My first stop was, actually, the first stop on entering the Metal Museum grounds: the Bain Barbecue & Bakery booth. I had to go back for seconds and would have done thirds, but I thought I might leave some for the guests.
They served a pork bellied burnt end, which one of the team members dubbed “Pork Bell Firecrackers.” “Pork belly is what bacon is before it’s cured and smoked and sliced,” says co-owner Bryant Bain. “We skipped the curing step. Instead of curing, I just went and seasoned it and smoked it and tossed it in a glaze I made out of our Texas sauce and added some extra ingredients. I smoked it again and let the glaze set.”
Well, if that doesn’t make you hungry.
I then made my way to Draper’s Catering of Memphis. They served a fig, bacon, and goat cheese bruschetta. “There’s seasoned herb toast,” says owner Matt Draper. “We put goat cheese spread over it, fig preserves, and crispy bacon.”
Add figs to anything and I’m there.
Jesse Boyd with Heirloom Catering described the fare at their booth, which was manned by her partner, Brandy Flagg, and Lori Beck. “We had BLT dip, pork tenderloin on rolls, bacon-wrapped potato bombs.”
And they were the bomb, let me tell you.
Lernard Chambers, owner of The Genre, didn’t do a bacon-inspired dish. “We just did a fried U.S. catfish with a sauce two different ways,” Chambers says. “And then we had Southwest egg rolls.”
The event organizer cut him him some slack. “Our menu didn’t have bacon on it.”
Well, I’d attend a “Catfish & Bourbon” event any day.
By the way, Chambers and his twin brother, Bernard, are celebrating their 30th birthday with a three-day event, which is open to the public. It will include a blacktop event October 21st, a midnight brunch on October 22nd, and Soul Food Sunday on October 23rd For information, call 901-410-8169.
