Remember the '90s when nobody ate bacon?
It was the heyday of low-calorie, low-fat diets. A new study came out every night about how sodium can kill you, how fat can kill you, how we should all trade in our traditional bacon-and-eggs-all-American breakfast for high-fiber cardboard cereal. Then came...what? What made our food culture become so bacon-driven? In the early 2000s I started to see bacon candles, bacon air fresheners. A friend got me bacon toothpaste as a gift (so gross) and I went to a Halloween party dressed as bacon. We all went on low-carb diets. Artisan pork became a thing. Our love affair with bacon began anew, and it's still going strong.
Which brings me to...the Butchertown Porktoberfest. This weekend, October 10, from 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. at Copper & Kings, affirm your love for all things porky and bacon-y with this "pork-inspired" culinary competition. Restaurants like Decca, Feast BBQ, Wiltshire on Market, Lilly's, Rye, Harvest, Cellar Door Chocolates, Jack Knife Cafe, Holy Grale, Troll Pub, and Sidebar will be participating. According to Porktoberfest's Facebook Page, Taco Punk will also be there, though today (October 6) is ostensibly the last day they will be open for lunch, or open at all. Perhaps a return to a Taco Punk food truck is in order?
Attending Porktoberfest is free, but food and beverage tickets will be sold, with which you can get your samples and drinks. Categories are Best Overall, People's Choice, Best Vegetarian, Most Creative and Best Dessert. The first will be awarded by judges, the latter four by popular vote, and winners will get a cash prize ($1000 for Best Overall, $500 for the others!) and an awesome trophy. There will be music provided by Billy Goat Strut Review, cocktails available from Copper & Kings, and beer from Apocalypse Brewery for purchase.
All proceeds from Porktoberfest benefit the Butchertown Neighborhood Association. In case you weren't aware, the reason Butchertown is called Butchertown is because there used to be a whole lot of butchers and stockyards in that part of town, (because it was really convenient to dump animal remains in the river and the creeks) and to this day, the aroma of meat-packing plants and stockyards lingers when the wind is right. This is basically the porkiest possible part of town.
Let's hope the sizzle and smell of some pork will drown that right out.
