Americans have been bacon crazy for a long time now. I’m waiting for this fad to pass onto the “meh” list, but it only seems to be intensifying, especially in Portland, Maine. The two items you’ll find on most Portland restaurants are Brussels sprouts and anything made with pork. How did this happen? I mean, Lobsters R Us.
I couldn’t be happier about the sprouts. I credit chefs Dan Sriprasert and Bob Wongsaichua who own two great Portland restaurants, the Green Elephant and Boda, for spreading the Brussels sprouts religion. Most people wouldn’t have been caught dead eating Brussels sprouts as a kid, but now we Portlanders are gobbling them up like candy. This is good news, because Brussels sprouts are a cruciferous veggie associated with lowering cholesterol, guarding against cancer, and even protecting DNA.
But pork? Masa Miyake’s restaurants (Miyake and Pai Men) do a marvelous job with Brussels sprouts but pork is their pride and joy. This is because they raise their own hogs at Miyake Farm. (They probably grow their sprouts there, too, but it’s the pork they crow about. Mixed metaphor?)
Sometimes for us non-meat-eaters, who have to navigate menus carefully for salads without bacon bits, the proliferation of pork items can seem like an assault. But when the dishes are in another language it’s not so bad. Pai Men’s Yaki buta or the Cotelette du porc next door at Petite Jacqueline’s, for example.
I recently visited the cute new restaurant on Dana Street called Blue Rooster Food Co. There were the required Brussels sprouts on the chalkboard menu. And there were, as expected, many pork items, all with very cute names. There was the Crafty Swine and the Three Little Pigs, and a lot of specialty dogs (i.e. pork and beef) with cute names like Barking Dog and Junkyard Dog.
Enough with the pork already. I am not out to change pork eaters into vegans, but yesterday’s Portland Press Herald had a story about a group of scientists and animal advocates who would like to make us think differently about pigs and other farm animals that we eat.
Lori Marino, at Emory University, is the lead researcher on The Someone Project, which is trying to illuminate the emotional lives of highly intelligent animals like pigs. It’s sponsored by Farm Sanctuary (which does want to turn you into a vegan), and the idea is to get people to reject eating pigs in the same way they would reject eating cats or dogs.
Personally I would love to see less pork on Portland menus. As much as I admire Masa Miyake, and am proud to have his restaurants in Portland, Maine, I am all for the Someone Project. I think these clever chefs could come up with some variations on Brussels sprouts that would be welcome, too. Cute names might help.
Ann Swardlick • Freelance Writer 
I’ve always been a firm believer that animals have very strong opinions about what we do to them. And the higher up they are on the food chain, (i.e. the closer they are to being our first cousins) the less I feel like killing and eating them. So, at this point, I’ve at least ruled mammals out of my diet. The bacon craze has inspired some pretty creative commentary, (Ann’s post, for sure) including a wonderful comic called, “Quandary” by Nomi Kane, found in the anthology called, “Visions of the Aporkalypse.” http://bit.ly/13n0Nye — In the closing frame, the King of the Pigs, after rounding up all the Humans and readying them for the kill, is asked to spare the Jews, “because they don’t eat Pork.” The King replies, however, that so many of them make an exception for bacon. But he is quickly reminded that even he, King of the Pigs, makes and exception for bacon! Oy! Or should I say, “Oynk!” Wonderful column, Ann. How ’bout Brussels sprouts for dinner tonight?
Interesting article but lest you forget …BACON is a food group on to itself. It entices even the most devoted, anti meat eaters to stray every once in a while. Good luck on your quest. Brussels sprouts vs. bacon. I think I can guess the hands down winner, even though both are good. How about roasted Brussels sprouts with optional side of bacon. Then all are happy!
Yes, I’ve heard that even pigs like bacon. Ha!