Bacon o' beef

[leanneabe]

We recently celebrated a birthday dinner at the Linkery in North Park and it ended up that half of us had sausage plates and the other half had "regular" menu items. What we didn't expect was the nugget of beef bacon that came on the sausage platters. It had the smoky taste of bacon layered with the melty goodness of beef fat (have you ever had a well-marbled piece of top of a prime rib? it's like that, but better) and it pretty much just makes you swoon. They make it in-house using beef belly from Brandt beef.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has ever come across something like this before? I had never heard of such a thing and now I'm wondering how else to get a morsel like that? Short of spending the rest of my meals at the Linkery, of course. We did order a separate side order of the beef bacon and I guess we could have begged to take home a large order. I'm guessing this is just the kind of reason you go to places like The Linkery - unexpected dishes that are only found there. But it can't hurt to ask, right?

[ricz2010]

Beef bacon at http://beefbacon.net , great reviews.

[daantaat]

I have no idea if these come close to the Linkery's but Whole Foods and Ralphs' in UTC carry beef bacon. Whole Foods' has less fat and more flavor. Ralphs' has lots of fat, good for dishes that require cooking in beef or pork fat.

[alanstotle]

I, too, have seen and purchased beef bacon at grocery stores before. In fact, iirc, I saw some at my local (Fresno) Vons a short while back. I don't think every grocery store sells beef bacon, but some of them do.

[Cathy]

Any store that has a "Kosher" section will have it.

The La Jolla Raphs and the Downtown Albertsons come to mind immediately.

[Bob W]

I was waiting for a comment like Cathy's. I grew up in a kosher home and once in a while my mother would buy a package of "beef fry" from the kosher butcher. IIRC it was pretty good (I think I would appreciate the fat more now than I did then) but it ain't bacon!

[daantaat]

Most beef bacon is not Kosher. Ralphs in UTC has a Kosher section but their beef bacon is stocked with the pork bacon and they stopped carrying it for a while after the last big grocery strike a few years ago. Thankfully, it's been back for the last few months.

Kosher refers to the way the animal is killed, by whom and that the rabbi has to bless the meat at some point. It is a different concept than "traife" or unclean meats.

[Cathy]

I only said you can find beef bacon in a store that has a "Kosher" section in it. Alan said he did not think every grocery store sold it.

I know what Kosher means.

[Bacon Heather]

I suggest checking with your local butcher. My mom serves beef bacon for Christmas breakfast every year (along with regular ol' pork bacon, of course), and she gets it from a butcher (in Idaho, which I assume doesn't help anywhere here). I've never seen it in a grocery store myself. Even though i'm a big fan of the hog, beef bacon is pretty darn good. Good luck!

[ChinoWayne]

And I'm guessing you are talking about a venue in San Diego?

[Cathy]

Yes, Linkery is in SD

[stevuchan]

I was exposed to beef bacon while traveling in Malaysia. A majority of the hotels I stayed in served beef bacon at breakfast. Let just say I really missed regular bacon. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jay version of beef bacon is like. I have also seen beef bacon at the 99 Ranch, in the meat department (of course).

Cheers

[leanneabe]

Yes, I started looking around on the internet for beef bacon and most of the things I found looked like they were intended to be substitutions for pork bacon (for those who don't eat pork). Jay's version isn't meant as a substitution, it's a decadent addiction all on it's own! The Linkery's version of beef bacon is served in small chunks, rather than thin crisp strips, so you really get a lot of flavor in a small bite.

http://threedogkitchen.com

[MrKrispy]

sounds intriguing, I will have to ask about it next time I go!