Posted by Jock on December 05, 2006 at 09:49:03 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: cooking in Mrs. Dixon's kitchen posted by Ian E-N on December 05, 2006 at 09:17:13:
To quote an earler phrase of Peter H's I think that the discussion is slowly getting at the truth. At least "the truth" in so far how good bacon would have been cooked in Lake District farmhouses in the 1930s. Mike (Beatrix Potter illustration?) and then Ian have shown how the technology is at hand. It would take a farmer's wife only a second to remove the frying pan from the top of the range and give the fat a good swirl over the open fire. Peter (message 26470) has supplied the missing clue. As I said, the bacon would have been unprocessed, with no additives, so a little smoking would have made it delicious. Mrs D may have had hams hanging near the fire, for the same reason.
Mrs Dixons bacon and hams could have well been home cured and the bacon home smoked. Or even if bought from a butcher would have been "processed" the traditional way. Such bacon is absolutely delicious. In Poland it is even eaten cold with no further cooking! In order to make the fat crispy it needs to be cooked for a certain length of time. If this is done slowly it dries out the meat part of the bacon and destroys the subtle taste of the home-produced product.
Once the frying pan is warmed up and the bacon has started to cook, you should raise the temperature of the fat quickly. (Holding the frying pan over the fire will do the trick.) and then quickly seal one side of the bacon with the hot fat and then the other. Then remove from the frying pan and serve before the meat part has been able to dryout. The bacon then is crisp on the outside while still delicious and moist on the inside. QED.