John Scalzi just won a Hugo for writing about bacon online.
Or something like that.
Scalzi was also nominated for Best Novel, and lost by only 9 votes, but the bacon is obviously far more important.
So, to honor John Scalzi for his achievements, I present to you…
… bacon chocolate cheesecake.
No really. (And please excuse the appearance – this was a leftover portion, and the whipped cream had melted. Next time I’ll take a glamour foodie photo.) The dessert is from Herwig’s, a local Austrian restaurant, and truly has chocolate and plenty of bacon, and is indisputably a cheesecake, even if the whipped cream was melted by the time I got to try it. Apparently the cook made one as a joke, and it sold out within two hours. He made another, and it sold out even faster. Now bacon chocolate cheesecake appears on the menu occasionally. Herwig’s has a sign on the wall, “Welcome to Herwig’s, where bacon is an herb”, and indeed, it appears in virtually everything. I think this is the first appearance of bacon in the dessert case (but maybe not the last).
But how did it taste? Salty and sweet is always a good combination, and the salty, savory bacon did mix well with the strong dark chocolate. It won’t ever replace chocolate cheesecake in my affections, but was surprisingly tasty.
If this is a tribute to John Scalzi, then why did Nick and I eat the whole thing? Well, you saw the whipped cream – it just wasn’t going to keep much longer. But if John Scalzi ever comes to town, I’ll make sure to buy him a piece. After all, I like his books too, even if they aren’t as popular as the bacon!
on Aug 14th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
That is terrifying, yet awesome.
Thanks for the tribute.
on Aug 15th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Well I put salt crystals in my chocolate mousse so why not?
And I do love bacon toffee too.
Any idea if there is a recipe somewhere?
on Aug 15th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Well, take your favorite chocolate cheesecake recipe and add chopped cooked bacon to the filling! I think you need a strong, dark chocolate filling and good-quality bacon to make it work, but then, when wouldn’t you want to use dark chocolate???
on Aug 29th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
This is the second bacon chocolate combo I have seen in as many days! I found dark chocolate and bacon bars for sale at the Cost Plus World Market. There were a couple of other notable combinations but the bacon is what stuck with me!