Tag: CAMP BACON
Our 8th Annual Zingerman’s Camp Bacon® was one of our best yet! Hundreds of campers came to Ann Arbor for five days of bacon-centric events last week, which kicked off with our Film Festival and sizzled to the end with a family-friendly Street Fair. In between, there was also a Bacon Beautiful music event, bacon cooking classes at BAKE!, a Detroit food tour, a special Bacon Ball dinner, and of course the Main Event.
Here are some photos of the festivities to enjoy. Sign up for our Camp Bacon enewsletter, and you’ll be the first to hear when we start planning our 9th Annual Camp Bacon!
The Main Event
They even took a torch to the skin to get it extra crispy:
Camp Bacon Film Fest
Camp Bacon Fresh Taste of Detroit Tour
An art break:
Chef Susan Welch presented a multi-course dinner at revolver in Hamtramck:
Bacon Beautiful Music
Camp Bacon Bacon Ball
We hope you enjoyed looking back on Camp Bacon with us. We hope you’ll join us next year! If you’d like to purchase Camp Bacon swag, shop our website.
Tag: CAMP BACON
While bacon is definitely at the center of Camp Bacon, people from all over the country flock to our annual pork-centric event to hear from our amazing speakers! And this year, we’re presenting one of the best lineups of special guests. We have journalists, food artisans, chefs, filmmakers and more coming to share their wisdom, talents and art with us.
Don’t miss these speakers:
Simran Sethi
Award-winning journalist and educator, Simran Sethi, writes about environmental and food sustainability issues. Her book, Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, was named one of the top food books of 2016 by Smithsonian. Simran’s talk Good Pig/Bad Pig will explore pig farming in her home state of North Carolina, the second largest pork producer in the United States. She’s flying in all the way from Rome to be with us, and we’re so excited to welcome Simran! Meet Simran Sethi at the The Main Event, June 3 at Cornman Farms.
Reserve Your Seat for the Main Event!
Ava Lowrey
Fillmmaker Ava Lowrey has been using multimedia to connect with audiences since the age of 15. She has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, CNN, Mother Jones, and more. Ava has directed multiple short documentaries and screened at festivals across the country. A native of Alexander City, Alabama, Ava’s films often focus on her Southern roots, sharing untold stories centered in the South. Come see two of Ava’s films at the Camp Bacon Food Film Fest, May 31 at Greyline. She’ll be our special guest! Get Your Tickets to the Camp Bacon Food Film Festival
Clark Rachal
Camp Bacon welcomes Clark Rachal from Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana Cajun country, where the art of roasting pig—called Cochon de Lait—is taken to a whole new level of flavor and gastronomical technique. But it’s more than just a cooking process, Cochon de Lait has evolved as a time-honored tradition to capture the essence of community, as people come together for really great food and festivities. Our Cochon de Lait dinner at Zingerman’s Roadhouse has SOLD OUT, but you can still get a taste of this culinary tradition at the Main Event.
Steven Burger
Steven Burger is President of Burgers’ Smokehouse, a 4th generation family-owned business located in California, Missouri. Burgers’ Smokehouse is nationally recognized—most recently their Cajun Bacon Steaks were named on Extra Crispy’s Best Bacon in America list—as a leading producer of cured and smoked meat and poultry products sold at grocery stores, restaurants, and through Zingerman’s Mail Order. Steven will give us the lowdown on how Burgers’ Smokehouse got its beginnings in country ham.
That’s just a few. Check out the full, fantastic Camp Bacon speaker’s list here.
Tag: CAMP BACON
Camp Bacon, a true pork lover’s paradise and fundraiser for Southern Foodways Alliance and Washtenaw County 4-H, is almost here! And it’s going to sizzle. Some events have already sold out, but you can still grab your tickets for our Camp Bacon Food Film Fest, Main Event and Bakin’ with Bacon. We’d also have some fun FREE events lined up, too!
Here are all the details:
Camp Bacon Food Film Festival
Wednesday, May 31, 6:00pm – 9:00
The fascinating stories behind beloved Southern women food makers are captured in this collection of short documentaries. Bacon snacks, like bacon popcorn and Cuban Pork Zingers, are included with ticket. Beer, wine, bacon cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks are available for purchase.
$35/person ($10 goes to SFA) Location: Greyline, 100 N. Ashley St, Ann Arbor
Main Event
Saturday, June 3rd, 2017, 8:00am – 4:00pm
13 speakers, two meals, and so much bacon. This all-day event is packed with lots of learning, a whole lot of laughing and, of course, all the bacon you can eat! Bacon lovers from around the globe trek to the Camp Bacon® Main Event each to meet and eat and share their love for really good cured pork in a day filled with presentations by bacon producers, food experts, and a few fun surprise guests. Award-winning journalist Simran Sethi is flying in from Rome, and Cochon 555 Minneapolis winner Brian Merkel will be raffling cuts of pork! And if you missed your chance for the Bacon Ball, don’t worry! We’ll also be tasting Cochon de Lait, a traditional Cajun country pig roast.
You’ll use the power of bacon to flavor three amazing baked goods: peppered bacon farm bread, bacon cheddar scones, and sweet and salty bacon pecan sandy cookies. Our first two classes have sold out, but you can still reserve a spot for Sunday, June 4.
$125/person. Location: BAKE! 3723 Plaza Dr., Ann Arbor
The 8th Annual Bacon Ball: Cochon de Lait, A Dance with Flame
Thursday, June 1, 7:00pm – 9:30pm
The Roadhouse welcomes Clark Rachal from Avoyelles Parish in Louisiana Cajun country for a traditional pig roast that Ann Arbor has never experienced before.
$75/person. Location: Zingerman’s Roadhouse, 2501 Jackson Ave., Ann Arbor
Bacon Beautiful Music
Thursday, June 1, Doors 7:30pm, Music 8:00pm – Midnight
FREE EVENT! Musicians, poets and more will take to the stage to make music and entertain all of our campers! Ann Arbor Distilling Company has graciously sponsored this event, and Club Above will have bartenders on hand to craft the best made-in-Ann Arbor drinks! Doors will open at 7:30 and music will be running from 8:00pm until midnight. All performers have connections to the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, and donations will be accepted for Southern Foodways Alliance.
This event is free. Location: Club Above, 215 N Main St,, Ann Arbor
Fresh Taste of Detroit
Friday, June 2, 12:00pm – 9:30pm
Camp Bacon® hits the road with Zingerman’s Food Tours for a high-energy tasting jaunt through the markets, kitchens, and breweries of Detroit.
$295/person. Location: Zingerman’s Roadhouse, 2501 Jackson Ave., Ann Arbor
Camp Bacon Street Fair
Sunday, June 4, 11:00am – 2:00pm
FREE EVENT! Celebrate great pork with this a three-hour, family-friendly street fair with an array of vendors selling, sampling and showcasing all things bacon.
This event is free. Location: Sunday Artisan Market in Kerrytown, 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor. Just show up! No registration necessary.
Tag: CAMP BACON
Our latest newsletter is out! In this issue, you’ll read all about plans for our 35th anniversary, our new Zingerman’s Potato Chips (!), Camp Bacon, Culinary Zecrets, Prosciutto and more. Pick one up at any Zingerman’s locations, get it with your Zingermans.com order, or read it online.
Tag: CAMP BACON
Detroit’s food scene has been enjoying the national spotlight as of late, and for good reason: there’s so much going on. And we want to show you around! Camp Bacon is hitting the road with Zingerman’s Food Tours again on June 2 for a high-energy jaunt through Detroit’s markets, kitchens and breweries. Our food adventurers will go behind the scenes to meet the chefs and taste-makers at the heart of the Motor City’s vibrant, rapidly evolving food culture.
If you’re hungry to explore Detroit and understand more about this amazing rebirth through food, join us.
Here are some details of our journey:
- Visit Eastern Market, Detroit’s historical food hub and ground zero for the urban farm-to-table movement, as well as street art, and entry to the Dequindre Cut Greenway.
- Learn about the Market’s history and its current role in revitalizing Detroit’s food economy and business growth. We’ll snack on Supino’s excellent pizza and then hike around the Market, to experience the vibe and street art.
- Examine Detroit’s history, architecture and new growth, land use and development as we journey through the streets of Detroit to Wright and Co in the stunningly refurbished Wright-Kay Jewelry building. We’ll be joined by Chef Marc Djozlija as we enjoy his take on a pork-a-licious small plate and cocktail.
- Next is Corktown, a vibrant urban center of breweries, distilleries and food experiences.
- Our final stop is (revolver), the hottest pop-up in Detroit, for a full-on porky snout-to-tail dinner and drinks with Chef Peter Dalinowsky and a secret chef.
Reserve your spot here. Price ($295 per person) includes all food, drink, guides, and transportation. The tour, which takes place June 2, 2017 from 12:00-9:30 pm, will be on luxury private bus, starting and returning to Zingerman’s Roadhouse in Ann Arbor. Have questions? Give us a call at 734-775-1037.
Tag: CAMP BACON
It’s no secret that we have a lot of love for Southern Foodways Alliance. Our annual Camp Bacon event is, in part, a fundraiser for the organization, which “documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South,” and Ari has been attending their annual symposium for over decade.
“I’m a huge believer in the work of Southern Foodways,” he says. “They’re probably the non profit food organization that, to me, most embodies the values and worldview that we have here at Zingerman’s. They take their learning, their work and their food really seriously, but they don’t take themselves too seriously.”
The focus of SFA’s recent fall symposium—past topics have included Women at Work and the Global South—was corn. The four-day event at University of Mississippi explored corn as a symbol of the American South, its role in sustaining the population and the problems that arise from its production. The program included speakers, artists, and plenty of good corn-centric cooking.
Ari’s favorite moments included Mark Essig’s talk about the history of corn in the American South, David Shields speaking on his work to find and bring back dozens of nearly lost heirloom seed varieties, and Caterina Passidomo talking about her grandparents’ polenta. Other interesting talks included Michael Twitty on corn in the diet and cooking of enslaved people and Bart Smith’s history of Coca Cola and its relationship with corn.
As far as food goes, Ari’s highlights were Nancie McDermott’s Brunswick Stew supper and Helen Turner’s pork barbecue.
You can see a recap of SFA’s 19th Symposium here and watch some great films produced by the organization here. If you’re interested in going to next event, El Sur Latino, you can find out more here.