The best bacon on the planet is to be found in...

[KamaAina]

That's right, Fresno. Per EFerrari, who recently relocated there:

"Fresno has the best bacon I've ever seen at a meat counter or a butcher's shop. It tastes like bacon, not slime. You can buy it in any increment you want, at your own risk....Beautiful, thick slabs of real bacon that you can get wrapped in paper, not those slimy thin ribbons of stuff that comes asphyxiated in plastic."

Mmmmm... bacon....

[Kali]

1. I know of another

small family-owned packing plant in Wilcox AZ
mesquite-smoked, thick, REAL bacon. to die for.

[DebJ]

2. Boy that sounds good..............n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Whatever happened to EFerrari?

I liked her.

[KamaAina]

4. I suspect she got fed up with the tone DU, especially GD, often takes

Can't really say as I blame her. I am still in touch with her on FB, though.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Please give her my regards.

I always really appreciated her posts. She was formerly sfexpat, too, wasn't she?

(And I can't say i really blame her, either. This place ain't what it used to be.)

[KamaAina]

6. Roger, wilco.

P.S. The E is for Elizabeth. The rest is self-explanatory, should you wish to seek her out.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Thanks.

I just might do that.

[shenmue]

7. Bacon!

Mmmm.

[NV Whino]

8. Well thank god Fresno has something going for it.

[KamaAina]

10. Don't tell Le Taz Hot you said that!

She is a fervent defender of Fresno and the Central Valley, mainly in the California group, where coastal Californians have been known to denigrate it from time to time. I've been guilty in the past, but I'm trying to keep a lid on it.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. <perk!>

Well, dear, I don't know what to tell you. If you choose blindness nothing I can say will make you see.

Allow me to be of assistance: Do a Google Search for "Farmers Markets" (Vinyard in particular but there are MANY more), "Art Hop," "Jazz Hop," "Tower District," "Peace Fresno," "Fresno Gay Alliance," and "CSAs," "Save Mart Center," "Chukchansi Park," and any number of the small, farming communities featuring roadside stands selling fresh fruit/produce that they picked that morning. Those are off the top of my head.

Lot's of cultural things going on at any given time including the largest gathering of Hmong in the U.S. for the Hmong New Year celebration, Greek Festivals, Armenian Festivals, Latin Festivals, Native American Festivals, Italian Festivals, at any time throughout the year.

Glad to be of service,

LTH

[KamaAina]

12. Thanks, Taz!

Oh, and you forgot the radio station that rebroadcasts Berkeley's famed KPFA.

[Le Taz Hot]

15. And KFSR

coming out of California State University, Fresno. Jazz most of the time but wonderful Armenian music on Saturday mornings followed by a Blues set.

[NV Whino]

13. Thank you for the info

I confess to being one of those uppity almost-coastal persons. We just have wine.

[KamaAina]

14. You're not from NV?

edit: Oh, wait, I think I figured it out. NV stands for something: a place near Sonoma. Amirite?

[NV Whino]

17. Yep.

[siligut]

16. Craving alert! And unless you live in NY it's gonna get pricey.

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From the video, they cut their own, termed "Peter Luger Thick" bacon. The Fresno bacon may well be the best bacon that isn't served in a restaurant, but a bacon thread without mention of the Peter Luger Steakhouse appetizer just isn't right.

[Raine1967]

18. My mouth. eom.

[vanlassie]

19. I am from Fresno- born here. PLEASE, will someone tell me which market has this bacon?

Is it The Meat Market?

Thank you.
Vanlassie

[KamaAina]

24. Never even been closer than Modesto.

And EFerrari seldom if ever checks in here these days.

[jmowreader]

20. It can't be better than the kind that comes from Johnston County Hams

http://www.countrycuredhams.com/dry-cured-bacon-slab-2-each.php

This is bacon cured the same way a North Carolina country ham is cured. (The North Carolina cure uses a little less salt than the Virginia cure does, so you don't need to soak the bacon before eating it.) You can get it sliced but that takes all the fun out of it. You can slice it thick like bacon should be, or paper-thin more like prosciutto. And it's delectable either way.

[brooklynboy49]

21. Consultation required

I'm gonna have to consult Jim Gaffigan on this and get back to you

Edit: His bacon bits (pun very much intended) are on youtube, they're worth taking a look, he's never been funnier. I can't paste vids on my tablet, just search for gaffigan bacon.

I can c/p, so you can read his material here, but it's no substitute for seeing him. I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2007/10/baconvision-jim-gaffigan-on-bacon.html

[Drahthaardogs]

22. Pancetta Arotolatta made by me

Italian bacon is cured in herbs not smoke. No one does cured pork like the italians.

[whistler162]

23. Oskar's in Lake George is very good.

http://www.oscarsadksmokehouse.com/meat/bacon

My cousin once transported a fresh Oskar's ham over state lines, maybe a crime when passing through Virginia, for a family party in South Carolina.