Bacon Riot

Juicy, sizzling, and succulent are three words you might find yourself saying about bacon. By itself, bacon is wonderful. It’s mouthwatering, meaty, and you will always find yourself wanting more even though it may send you and your heart to the hospital. However, as soon as you wrap something in that processed bacon, you not only up your chances for an unhealthy heart, but it becomes automatically disgusting.

Bacon and chicken? No, thank you. Bacon and hamburgers? I rather not. Worst of all is shrimp wrapped in bacon. There is something about all that bacon grease wrapped in a perfectly healthy food like shrimp or grilled chicken that turns me away from it. I don’t mean I simply will refuse to eat it; if you put that anywhere near me, I will throw up.

I am not a calorie counter or obese, but I do love meat; more importantly, I love being healthy and athletic. Bacon to me is a breakfast food meant to be served with eggs and toast on the side maybe once a month. That is why, when my boyfriend at the time heard about what some may call irrational behavior he decided it was time for me to get over my fear of bacon.

We found the perfect recipe for bacon-wrapped barbeque shrimp on allrecipes.com. While he cut the bacon in half and wrapped it around the large raw shrimp, it was my job to put them on a raised cookie sheet and sprinkle barbeque seasoning all over it. The first time he gave me a shrimp covered in bacon, I threw up a little in my mouth. There was just something about the bacon lovingly embracing that fresh shrimp that made me just want to call the whole thing off. But, as my boyfriend, Cory, always says, “I’ve already committed.”

After coating the fifth or sixth piece of shrimp and bacon in the seasoning, I stopped choking on air and became at peace with what was about to happen. We placed the tray with the 26 fishy and meaty appetizers in the oven. Those 10 minutes of waiting for it to be done baking were perhaps the worst of my experiences with food.  I paced back and forth in front of the stove where the smell of bacon grease and barbeque leaked into the apartment.

I admit that the smell would have sent any bacon lover’s taste buds running, and I hadn’t eaten anything that day. At that moment, the idea of eating that bacon-wrapped shrimp was no longer that terrible. The timer went off, and I opened the oven to see a massive pile of bacon grease sitting underneath the shrimp. I knew it was done, and it was officially time to eat something I swore I never would.

Cory had me sit down and placed 10 perfect, bacon-wrapped shrimp in front of me with a side of white rice. All I could do was stare at them. It smelled better than a fresh homemade apple pie. But it was bacon and shrimp. Cory couldn’t wait for me any longer so he took the first bite. He attempted to show a look of disgust on his face, but he couldn’t. A look of pure joy and happiness spread from his lips to his eyes as he chewed and then swallowed.

It was my turn. Was I ready? Absolutely not. This was the unhealthiest and most revolting thing anyone could ask me to eat. I stabbed my food with my fork and brought it to eye level. I don’t know what I was hoping to gain from this. It looked edible. I smelled it, but it smelled only like the rest of the apartment did from the bacon and barbeque fumes. I took a deep breath, exhaled, and placed that fatty food into my mouth.

All I could think was, “Ew, ew, ew, ew, what am I doing?” Then I took a bite, and another bite. I opened my eyes and looked at Cory, then at my plate and swallowed. It was the most luscious food I had ever tasted. I ate slowly and enjoyed each morsel of shrimp and bacon as if it was the last time I’d ever eat it.

While this experience has opened my eyes to new food combinations, I still believe that a recipe like this one should only be indulged in no more than a few times a year. It was delicious but disgusting. I am content that I have faced one of my biggest fears on a food adventure that I hope to return to one day in the distant future.

Written: 28 March 2012