Bacon Jam

Ingredients

• 1 kg (2.2 lb) bacon, in thick strips EDIT: The streaky kind, from the pork's belly. Yet untested with British/back bacon/Canadian bacon. H/t DonJaime
• 2 large onions (preferably white)
• White vinegar
• Bourbon
• Brewed coffee, strong (like an espresso)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Procedure

• Cut bacon in cubes, about 1 cm (1/3 to 1/2 inch) per side
• Cut onions in half- or quarter-rings, thin
• Cook bacon on a low flame until it’s done and soft. Scoop out the bacon, but leave the fat on
• Cook the onions on the bacon fat until translucent and soft
• Add in the sugar and syrup. Remember to stay on a low flame. Keep stirring softly until you get to the consistency of molasses
• Add in 2 teaspoons of vinegar, 4 tablespoons of bourbon, a good shot of coffee
• Reduce the concoction a bit. Reintroduce the bacon. Cook a bit further until you reach the desired consistency
• Store in a jar

Notes

I have only tried doing this once but holy hell was it amazing. I was away from home and my usual digital devices, so I had to hurriedly transcribe the recipe before I forgot it, so expect to make adjustments every step of the way.

A friend of mine reports cooking the bacon in two batches: one with ~80% of the total cut in cubes as described and the rest cut thin and cooked separately to a crunchy consistency. She mentions the small bits as keeping their crunch, but I have yet to test this.

The author of this recipe (asked not to be named explicitly) does not know the shelf life of this jam «as it always gets consumed before it gets a chance to go bad». Just in case, I’d keep it in the fridge.

Sloane's gap ← Andy’s Brevity Quest 2019 (299 words) → PGN