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Hot streak

A bacon treat for just about every taste
From the chef | Search restaurants | Archives

June 6th, 2007 issue

Jan Přerovský/THE PRAGUE POST
Food for the college student's soul: the ever-popular skins, with lots of bacon.
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“No American bar menu is complete without potato skins,” says chef Martin Lev of Jáma, “and no skin is more popular than those served with good cheddar cheese and crunchy bacon.”
Why? Fans of streaky strips of pork know the answer.
Bacon is cut from the side of pork, generally smoked, wet-cured in brine or dry-cured in salt, then portioned into slabs or “rashers,” meaning slices. Because it keeps for long periods, it was a necessity in the centuries before refrigeration. Thus the flavor of bacon is familiar to many cultures.
The meat comes in different styles. Like Homer Simpson (mmm, bacon), Americans prefer long, thin slices laced with fat and smoked, often over hickory wood. This fries crisp and works best for recipes such as cheddar-bacon skins. Chefs at more exclusive restaurants often choose meat smoked over different woods, such as apple, which allow more of the natural flavor to stand out. Maple smoke lends a more pronounced sweetness. Mesquite is almost piercing. The type of pig and feed also affect the taste.
Pancetta, popular in Italy, has a subtle, sweetly brackish flavor. It is dry-cured instead of smoked, so the flavors are more intricate, a display of regional diet and salting methods. Back bacon, also known as Canadian bacon, is — as the name suggests — cut from a leaner portion of the loin. It resembles smoked ham in flavor and texture. Then there’s speck (Germany), tocino (Spain) and so on.
For this recipe, Lev suggests rashers of streaky bacon — old-fashioned American breakfast fare.
Although he adds, “The recipe may be American, but it seems to taste best with a cold Pilsner beer.”
Martin Lev is chef at Jáma, located at V Jámě 7, Prague 1–New Town. Tel. 224 222 383.

CHEDDAR BACON SKINS

Ingredients
500 grams (1.1 pounds) potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
200 grams high-quality bacon
100 grams cheddar cheese, grated
Sour cream
Fresh chives
Preparation
Wash potatoes with a brush and lay them out to dry.
Cut potatoes in half the long way and hollow out, leaving a thin layer of “meat” on the skin.
Fry bacon in a pan until it is crisp, then set aside to dry and cool before breaking into small pieces.
Drizzle olive oil over the open potato halves and bake in the oven at 200 C (392 F) for 25 minutes.
Fill the baked potato skins with bacon pieces and then cover with grated cheddar cheese.
Place back in the oven until the cheese is melted.
Top each of the skins with a few fresh chives and serve with a side of sour cream.


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