Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey

This was written by Gabe, one of our student interns. The opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of Civitas other than respect for the value of open dialogue.

This morning, I made my favorite breakfast: two strips of bacon and a sunny side up egg. It’s a simple, quick cooking process. With only four ingredients: thick-cut bacon, a large egg, salt, and pepper, the meal is a perfect microcosm of the savory, rich, and filling food experience I crave in the mornings.

This is how I did it:

Step One: Cookware

I used a ten-inch cast iron skillet. According to the American Dietic Association, this has the added health benefit of leaching significant amounts of iron into my food. Whether or not I need the extra iron is up for debate, but I certainly haven’t passed out from standing up too quickly as of late. I chose cast iron because I was in no rush to cook these eggs, and because it’s always good to get a nice bicep workout lifting that thing.

The history of cast iron extends to at least the sixth century BC. The earliest records we have coming from China, though it’s certainly possible that others in East Asia, particularly in China, Korea, and Japan, had cast iron before that date. The first English reference to cast iron happened twelve hundred years later in either 679 or 680. Cast iron is sturdy and holds heat evenly, which was its selling point when it was first invented and was why I used it this morning. Historically, cast iron came in the form of the large cauldron. Most meals were cooked over the hearth until the modern kitchen stove was invented, and cast iron could be suspended above the coals without worry of damaging the cookware.

Step Two: Bacon

I used thick-cut bacon, but any bacon will do really. The key is something with fat, because when that renders out, the egg soaks it all up for a boost of flavor. It also saves you the hassle of using butter or oil to cook your eggs. Remember, the fewer the steps, the easier the process. Lay the bacon on the cold skillet, then turn the heat to medium. Cooking your bacon this way, starting in a cold pan, causes more of the fat to render out, which leads to more flavor and makes cooking the eggs easier.

Cured pork has existed in some form for at least two thousand years. There are Roman pork curing methods, and pork belly has been in Chinese meals for millennia. The word itself comes from Middle English, derivative of German and French words. The history of bacon in the Americas hinges on Hernando de Soto, the Spanish conquistador who first brought pigs to the new world. The small herd quickly ballooned in size, and escaped descendants of this herd evolved into the feral hogs which plague the southeast United States.

Bacon consumption in the United States is unique to most other countries given the nigh-mythological status the meat has achieved. Starting in 2011, the bacon market roared across the country. In 2013, the bacon market reached nearly $4 billion, an all time high. The following year, a survey by Smithfield saw 65% of Americans support bacon as the “national food.” The idea of “Bacon Mania” stemming from the perceived relationship to American culture. Sarah Hepola described bacon’s ascendancy in the “health era” as akin to “shoving a middle finger in the face of all that is healthy and holy while an unfiltered cigarette smolders between your lips.” I don’t necessarily see the entirety of bacon’s sudden surge to be the fault of a reactionary response to the health movement in America. Rather, a concurrent development with the explosion of social media. Bacon became a cultural meme, in much the same way Zombies did or dystopian YA books. Bacon’s domination has been waning since 2016 as well, a fact some attribute to the swine flu, of all things.

Your bacon should be finished cooking, especially if you’re using cast iron. If you want it real crispy, leave it in, but otherwise get a pair of tongs (or just use your fingers) and put the strips on a plate with a paper towel on it. Bacon grease is loaded with flavor, but it’s a nuisance more than anything when the entire plate is swimming in the stuff.

Step Three: Eggs

The egg was invented before history began. The human consumption of eggs began some time after that point. Evidence exists to suggest domesticated chickens in India around 7500 BC, with their introduction to Egypt somewhere around 1500 BC. Eggs have been a staple food since the chicken was domesticated, given how easy they are to harvest, so long as the hens aren’t particularly aggressive. Because eggs have been consumed for longer than most civilizations, locating the history of any particular cooking method is near impossible, save more contemporary niche styles.

I made a sunny side up egg because it takes the least work of any egg. Since our cast iron is still full of bacon fat, we don’t even have to add any butter to the pan. I crack my egg on a flat surface, because that’s how I was taught to do it. Allegedly, you’re least likely to get pieces of shell or bacteria in your egg when you do this. If you do get a shell in your egg, just pull it out. If you do get bacteria in your egg, you’re cooking it so it shouldn’t matter. With a cracked egg, hold it over the cast iron and open. If you’re so bold (or you just want to practice) do it in one hand. Personally, I don’t quite have the hand motion there.

The egg should start cooking immediately. We’re frying this after all. It’ll finish in a minute or two. The guide is the white just next to the yolk. We want our yolk to burst and run out when we cut it, so right before the white around it sets, pull your eggs. If your weary about eating uncooked whites, I understand, but carryover cooking is your greatest ally in a kitchen, the egg will continue to cook after you pull them from heat. Throw a pinch of salt and pepper on your egg, that’s really all the seasoning you need. If you want to add more, go for it, make it your own.

Make sure your bacon isn’t on the paper towels anymore, then plop the egg right next to it.

Step Four: The All-American Breakfast

I trust that you know how to eat an egg. If you’ve never encountered an egg before, eat it like you would any other hot food. Slop up the yolk with the whites of the egg or the strips of bacon. If you’ve got bread, you could make some toast too. Toast was a whole bunch of steps I wasn’t interested in, so I forwent it.

The “Full Breakfast”, that is: a substantial cooked meal for breakfast, rather than a continental breakfast, first developed in England. It made its way to America through the first English colonizers of what would become the United States. Bacon and Eggs as the “Traditional American Breakfast” is a shockingly new invention, coming out of developments of the 1920s. Edward Bernays, who is Sigmund Freud’s nephew, worked for the Beech Nut Packing Company, and the company did a study on American breakfast. They found that most Americans were eating a light breakfast. Bernays found a physician who said that a heavy breakfast was more beneficial than a light breakfast. He asked the physician to ask 5,000 other physicians for their opinions. With thousands of doctors in agreement, the Beech Nut Packing Company publicized the “findings” in newspapers across the country. Newspapers would print the news of 4500 doctors supporting heavy breakfasts, with bacon and eggs as pillars of the meal.

Your food tells a history, and it tells a history that is often overlooked. Where does your favorite meal come from? Why is your favorite meal made the way it is? How has it changed over time? These questions are the first steps in exploring the food around you.

Enjoy the eggs.

Bon Appetit.