Crazy about bacon in Michigan

Need proof that Michiganders are in love with the sizzling, salty, smoky-cured goodness of bacon?

Consider the new menu at Comerica Park, which features "bacon and eggs," a thick strip of bacon topped with deviled eggs and jalapenos. If you're not cool with the jalapenos, you can always choose bacon on a stick, a menu choice for the past several years.

Or that Zingerman's in Ann Arbor is hosting its sixth annual "Camp Bacon" this June, and some of the pork-a-licious events already are sold out.

Or that there is an actual thing in Royal Oak called Baconfest Michigan, where chefs get together and ply guests with samples of bacon-bearing dishes, many of them gourmet in nature.

Or listen to Mary Kelpinski, executive director of the Michigan Pork Producers, which is responsible for promoting all parts of the pig.

"We don't even really have to promote bacon," she said. "It sells itself. It adds so much flavor to anything you put it with."

Matthew Peach, creator of Baconfest Michigan, finds he doesn't have much of a need to promote that event, either. The first one took place in 2012 and the second last fall at the Royal Oak Farmers Market. The next one is in October with a firm date not yet publicized. The previous two were quick sellouts, even with its 1,200 tickets priced at $75 each.

With a focus on Michigan-made products, including beer, wine, and a literal ton of pork, 20 chefs created appetizers, entrees and desserts.

"The chefs really do go all out," Peach said. "They try to come up with something unique that maybe people haven't seen." There's lobster mac-and-cheese with bacon, meatloaf with bacon, and even bacon-wrapped bacon. There are desserts, like a butterscotch pudding with bacon in it.

"It's the best butterscotch pudding you ever had," Peach said. "Somebody last year made bacon toffee with bacon-flavored whipped cream with sprinkles of bacon on top of it."

Best of all, Peach said, the event raised $10,000 split between Justin's Vision, which provides vacation experiences for kids with life-threatening illnesses, and Gilda's Club of Metro Detroit, which provides support for people with cancer.

Pete Sickman-Garner, marketing manager for the Ann Arbor-based Zingerman's, was a vegetarian when he started working for the company. Proximity to a variety of excellent foods, including high-end bacon, changed his ways.

He served as camp director for the first-ever Camp Bacon, which grew from an idea Zingerman's co-founder Ari Weinzweig had while attending a meeting of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

"They were talking about something called "Camp Bacon" which was one of the excursions they were going on, and he got this image in his head of camp like when you were a kid," Sickman-Garner said.

Weinzweig mentioned the idea of Camp Bacon in the introduction to his book "Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon," which includes a history of bacon, thoughts on why we love it and, of course, recipes.

The first Camp Bacon in 2010 featured a performance by Andre Williams, who had a 1956 radio hit with the song "Bacon Fat," and a tent set up for the 50-odd people who got together to talk about bacon and eat a lunch served by chef Molly Stevens.

"It was mostly just friends of Zingerman's that we knew were bacon experts or bacon makers," Sickman-Garner said.

Over the years, Camp Bacon has become wildly popular and evolved into much, much more. The June 3 to 7 event will include a "film festival" on its opening day with a series of short documentaries by Southern Foodways Alliance collaborator and filmmaker Joe York.

There are "Bakin' with Bacon" classes on Thursday and Friday afternoons (the Friday one already is sold out) at Zingerman's Bakehouse and a "Bacon Ball" at the Zingerman's Roadhouse Thursday night. This year's theme: "Pancetta, Pasts and Passion," featuring southern Italian pork dishes.

Saturday events take place at Cornman Farms in Dexter, with guests including NPR's The Kitchen Sisters, Italian food importer Rolando Beramendi and more. Saturday finishes with a pig roast at Cornman Farms.

The "Bacon Street Fair" closes the camp on Sunday at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. Vendors will sample and sell bacon-inspired products.

Camp Bacon is a lot of fun, Sickman-Garner admits. But it also aims to preserve and promote quality food and cooking. It also raised $2,000 last year for the Washtenaw County 4-H and $12,000 for the Southern Foodways Alliance.

"There is that fad element, where people make things like bacon deodorant and bacon gum," Sickman-Garner said. "Our approach to bacon has nothing to do with the gimmicks and everything to do with good bacon."

Learn more

• Camp Bacon is from June 3-7 at various Zingerman's-related venues in Ann Arbor; learn more or register for events at www.zingermanscampbacon.com.

• Baconfest Michigan will take place in October, with a date announced soon and tickets on sale in May. Those who like the group's Facebook page or sign up online for its newsletter get first crack at tickets. Learn more at www.baconfestmichigan.com.

Bacon bits

• If you love bacon you might want to order a BLT at Tony's I-75 Restaurant in Birch Run, where the sandwich comes on your choice of bread, toasted or not, with one full pound of bacon. Learn more about Tony's story at www.tonysi75restaurant.com.

• Detroit-based Little Caesars Pizza is wearing bacon on its sleeve, so to speak, wrapping the edges of deep-dish pepperoni pies with strips of bacon before baking. They're available now in many Little Caesars locations.

• Moo-ville Creamery in Nashville sells Baconator ice cream, a sweet-and-salty mix of maple ice cream and crisp pieces of bacon.