Voodoo Bacon

The Story of Voodoo Bacon

I was born in Mississippi, deep in the U.S. South. The South is the home of bacon love. Most kitchens in the South will have a little can on the stove to collect the rendered bacon fat from cooking the bacon each morning. The fat will be used later in the day or week to cook almost everything - fried chicken being a popular favourite of mine. I always thought that naked bacon fat wrestling sounded much more fun than mud wrestling, or naked bacon fat Twister, or naked bacon fat Slip n’ Slide.
At 15 years of age I decided to start my apprenticeship as a chef. I remember the first excursion my apprentice class went on; it was to a bacon producer. I marvelled at how a simple combination of sugar, salt, spices and smoke could turn an ordinary pork belly into an extraordinarily delicious slab of bacon. The smell of all of that bacon smoking still lingers as one of the best of my food memories. I have made my own bacon from that day forward.
In 2001 I fell in love with the Australian food scene. I decided to leave my U.S. home and endeavour to become a part of the excitement that I saw in the top restaurants in this country. I loved my new country and especially all of the new and interesting ingredients I found here. There was only one ingredient I missed: Southern-style dry-cured, smoked bacon. As I talked to Australians it seemed unanimous that the one thing North Americans had that Australians didn’t was this different and extremely delicious bacon.
That was how the concept of Voodoo Bacon was born. Deep in the heart of a man who hails from the Deep South. Some people say there must be some voodoo on this bacon! How can pork belly taste this good? It’s because Voodoo Bacon contains the magic of the South.