Tag: Zingerman’s 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

Clark Rachal drove all the way from Louisiana to cook Cochon de Lait for the Main Event. The process started at the crack of dawn.
It was a family affair—Clark brought his cousin William and wife Avery along, too!

They even took a torch to the skin to get it extra crispy:

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Campers filled up the room, eager to hear our esteemed speakers
Simran Sethi spoke about the impacts of pig farming in North Carolina
Steven Burger spoke about maintaining the tradition of country hams in today’s marketplace

The audience took photos and looked lovingly at pork
Nueske’s was there, too, sampling their delicious bacon

So much bacon
Butcher Brian Merkel raffled off cuts of expertly butchered pork
Lardo butter in progress.
The Roadhouse’s Executive Chef Bob Bennett in action
Cornman Farms’ chef and managing partner Kieron Hales carries a heavy load

Lots of people took home shirts and hats to spread the Camp Bacon love
The pineapple garnish was encrusted with bacon pieces

Camp Bacon Film Fest

The Film Fest was hosted at the Greyline this year—bacon cocktails were served!
We showed 8 films from Southern Foodways Alliance
Filmmaker Ava Lowrey was our special guest
Bacon maple popcorn was served to movie-goers

Camp Bacon Fresh Taste of Detroit Tour

The first stop on the Fresh Taste of Detroit Tour was the Detroit Kitchen Connect, a food business incubator at the Easter Market. We got to sample sweet and savory (yes, bacon!) tarts from kitchen user Susan’s Tarts.

An art break:

Cocktails from Wright & Company

Chef Susan Welch presented a multi-course dinner at revolver in Hamtramck:

Bacon Beautiful Music

Entertainment….
…and Bacon White Russians

Camp Bacon Bacon Ball

Clark Rachal served up Cochon de Lait at the Roadhouse’s Bacon Ball

The Cinna-Manhattan was made with smooth and spicy rye whiskey, with house-made cinnamon syrup, Angostura bitters and Arkansas pepper-cured bacon
The Westgate Bloody Mary was garnished with Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon

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: Zingerman’s 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

Fried pig skins are part of the Cochon de Lait bounty

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 with some country hams

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.