Bacon

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

The bacon is a traditional animal product for the Slavic peoples, which has deep roots in the Bulgarian culinary tradition. Increasingly denied by the obsession with healthy eating, bacon still has its positive features - in addition to being proven delicious, as part of many Bulgarian dishes, bacon hides benefits on human health, which are not insignificant.

Bacon is a subcutaneous animal fat from pig or pork. There are different ways to prepare and store it, the most popular and easy being its millet salting. Often used as a wine appetizer, smoked bacon flavored with various spices and garlic is characterized by excellent taste. There is also boiled and fried bacon. Bacon is often used directly with the animal's skin. In Canada, pork belly fat is smoked, seasoned with spices or covered with corn flour.

Bacon is probably unpopular only among the southern peoples, because the climatic features there suggest its rapid deterioration. Bacon is consumed all over the world in one form or another, the most popular variant being bacon. Bacon is even considered part of a traditional English breakfast accompanied by eggs. In Western European countries, bacon is available in thin strips, sometimes smoked and flavored with spices.

Bacon is one of the most valuable fats for the human body - one that melts at our body temperature - about 37 degrees. Bacon has a biological activity five times higher than that of butter, which means that it is absorbed much better than it. Bacon is also a starting product for the Bulgarian's favorite enemies of the thin waist, such as greaves and lard.

Bacon composition

The bacon is rich in nutrients, has an enviable amount of vitamins and amino acids. Bacon is a source of vitamin F, which is important for the immune system. It has recently been found that bacon also contains arachidonic acid, which belongs to the group of unsaturated fats and is also one of the essential fatty acids. This acid is part of the cell membrane and is involved in cholesterol metabolism. Bacon contains a lot of saturated fat and should not be overused. Cholesterol in bacon is less than in butter.

In the composition of bacon we find an enviable amount of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B12, fat-soluble vitamin A, as well as vitamin D, vitamin E, carotene and many important minerals such as sodium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and selenium). This animal fat is rich in a relatively large number of amino acids, many of which are essential. The largest amounts are alanine, arginine, valine, glycine, proline and threonine and aspartic and glutamic acid, which are part of organic acids. 100 g of bacon contains 770 kcal.

Cholesterol in bacon can be useful if consumed in an amount of about 30 g per day. This is because it is actively produced by the human body if cholesterol does not come with food.

If we consume small amounts bacon, we could prevent the body from producing so much cholesterol. In addition, bacon is better absorbed by some types of butter and especially by margarine, which is practically not broken down by the body.

100 g of cooked pork bacon contains: Calories 626; Calories from fat 594; Total fat 66.1 g; Cholesterol 79 mg; Protein 7.06 g; Water 26.26 ml; Free of carbohydrates, fiber and sugars.

Selection and storage of bacon

To preserve the taste and quality of bacon, certain rules are needed for its preparation and storage. First of all - always choose white and fresh bacon, because the yellowed bacon is a sign that the fat in it has begun to spoil and turn rancid. The very technology of storing bacon is bequeathed to us by our ancestors - it must be well salted and stored only in wooden containers.

Another option for storing bacon is smoking. The first step is to wash the bacon well and hang it in a ventilated place to dry. The smoking itself lasts until the bacon gets a deep yellow color. Finally, it is time to add spices that are to your taste - paprika, black pepper, savory, fenugreek and crushed garlic, the latter of which is mandatory.

It is important to store the bacon in a cool and ventilated place. In the coldest part of the refrigerator, the appetizer can last up to three days without the addition of additional salt. If desired, you can freeze the bacon in the freezer for a period not exceeding four months. Freezing the product also preserves a large part of the valuable nutrients.

Culinary use of bacon

From time immemorial, salted and flavored bacon in our country is a traditional wine appetizer. However, experts recommend consuming bacon with wholemeal bread, because in such a combination both products are best absorbed. You can combine bacon with raw vegetables seasoned with oil and natural vinegar.

An important rule is that when frying bacon, the cooking is short. Prolonged frying is a prerequisite for the formation of toxins and carcinogens in it.

If you are cooking fresh bacon, you should always fry it briefly in drops of vegetable oil or butter. Traditionally smoked bacon is very suitable for a dish with lentils, ripe beans and other legumes.

When you add smoked bacon in dishes with lentils and sauerkraut, you do not need to pre-fry it. If you use salted bacon, it is good to blanch it for a while to remove the intrusive salty taste and only then use it for cooking. To do this, cover the salted bacon in a saucepan with cold water and put it on low heat until desalinated.

Benefits of bacon

Bacon should not be neglected as a food that is part of a balanced diet. Of course, always in small amounts, bacon with its abundance of unsaturated fatty acids helps cleanse the liver and expel various carcinogenic deposits from the body. Its rich content of selenium is important for people who suffer from a deficiency of this element.

The generous content of vitamin F in this subcutaneous lard helps to create new immune cells, which means that in winter your body can be well protected against viruses and infections. This vitamin is also important for the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Arachidonic acid in bacon is needed by the heart muscle, and even without it, hormones cannot function properly. The valuable fatty acids in bacon, which are indispensable for the human body, are about 10%, which puts the pork product ahead of butter. As already mentioned, the biological activity of bacon is up to five times higher than that of butter.

From time immemorial, bacon has been used in folk medicine, mainly as an external ointment, which helps with joint pain, mastitis, toothache, regulates disorders of joint mobility after injury, helps with wet eczema and more. In biliary disorders, doctors often recommend not consuming a small amount of bacon on a regular basis. In addition, if you dream of bacon, it is considered a good sign and a harbinger of wealth and health.

Harm from bacon

However, the saturated fat in the fat bacon are very. This leads to alleged health damage if we like to mix bacon often. In such cases, metabolic disorders, risk of atherosclerosis and general heart disease may occur. Excessive consumption of fat, even easily digestible, leads to weight gain.

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, even 10 years bacon per day can harm you rather than help you. High cholesterol levels lead to a number of side effects, such as heart attack and stroke. An additional disadvantage is that a lot of bacon is offered highly salted.