Several years ago, I worked with a consultant who was born in Chile. English was not his first language, but he spoke English about as well as most native speakers. Every once in a while, though, he would say a word or phrase demonstrating a gap in his knowledge of English. One such gap became apparent when we were discussing the finer points of frying bacon.
The cardinal rule of preparing bacon is that it must be crispy. I have an older brother who likes chewy bacon, and he and I have gone rounds and rounds on that. I don't need the bacon to be burnt to a crisp, but it definitely should be crispy.
Anyway, the consultant and I were talking about frying bacon, and he mentioned the oil. I said you don't need any oil to fry bacon because it's got plenty of fat already. He said, that's what he meant, the oil coming from the bacon. I said, "You mean bacon fat or grease?" He responded, "Yes, the oil." I suppose you could technically call the fat from frying bacon "oil," but we don't call it that. When I hear the term bacon oil, I think of some other oil that has been infused with the flavor of bacon.
We typically refer to unsaturated fats that are liquid at room temperature as oils. Bacon fat is saturated, and once the pan cools down, you'll notice it becomes congealed into a paste. My mom used to save the bacon fat in a little pot that she would dip into when she needed to season a pan and cook just about anything else. No wonder I like bacon so much.
The cardinal rule of preparing bacon is that it must be crispy. I have an older brother who likes chewy bacon, and he and I have gone rounds and rounds on that. I don't need the bacon to be burnt to a crisp, but it definitely should be crispy.
Anyway, the consultant and I were talking about frying bacon, and he mentioned the oil. I said you don't need any oil to fry bacon because it's got plenty of fat already. He said, that's what he meant, the oil coming from the bacon. I said, "You mean bacon fat or grease?" He responded, "Yes, the oil." I suppose you could technically call the fat from frying bacon "oil," but we don't call it that. When I hear the term bacon oil, I think of some other oil that has been infused with the flavor of bacon.
We typically refer to unsaturated fats that are liquid at room temperature as oils. Bacon fat is saturated, and once the pan cools down, you'll notice it becomes congealed into a paste. My mom used to save the bacon fat in a little pot that she would dip into when she needed to season a pan and cook just about anything else. No wonder I like bacon so much.
