Bacon
Sus scrofa domesticus · Meat
Top 10 pairings
Cured, usually smoked pork, cut in thin strips from the fatty belly (streaky) or the leaner loin (back bacon). Cooked until the fat renders and the lean crisps, it turns smoky, salty and deeply savoury.
Picking a good onedrag
Fresh pack: rosy lean, clean and coldOff: tacky or slimy, sour, mouldy
In dateEveryday bestCrisp bacon is safely cooked, even if still pink. Don't rinse it; never part-cook it to finish later.
The pack and its dateCold and sealed, a few days left
Lean and fatCreamy fat; rainbow sheen is fine
Surface, once openedSupple and moist, never tacky
Smell, once openedSalty and mild, nothing sharp