Sizzling away in a home frying pan or on a restaurant flattop, the aroma of bacon signals something very delicious is about to hit the plate. Bacon is an egg’s best friend, delivering an essential counterpoint of
salty, fatty flavor and just-crisp texture to each bite. In fact, polishing off the bacon while eggs and toast still remain creates a serious gastronomic imbalance. Without those unctuous nibbles, everything left on the plate seems a little less interesting.
Bacon lovers are generally brand loyal, but a local product must-try is made by Iverstine Farms Butcher, the whole animal butcher shop and restaurant in Baton Rouge. Owner Galen Iverstine prepares fresh hickory smoked bacon from heritage pigs raised on his farm as well as a handful of other partner farms in the region.
The process starts with fresh, skin-on pork belly brined for three days in a solution of water, brown sugar and salt. Once removed from the brine, the bellies are smoked over hickory wood in Iverstine’s smokehouse for four to six hours. The skin is removed before slicing.
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“What’s really different about our bacon is that we don’t oversalt the brine,” Iverstine says. “We want to allow the taste of the smoke and the quality of the meat to come through.”
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Iverstine’s bacon comes pre-sliced or is sliced to order according to a customer’s thickness preferences. Some customers also request specialty versions of bacon, including old-fashioned skin-on, sometimes called rind-on. Customers with a fondness for leaner bacon have requested Canadian bacon and buckboard bacon, made with pork shoulder, and Irish loin back bacon, made with pork loin, Iverstine says. But the vast majority want their bacon streaked with lucious fat, he says. The Essen Lane spot serves grab-and-go breakfast burritos studded with bacon and other ingredients during the week. Full breakfast service takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Iverstine goes through about 20 fresh pork bellies, or 300 to 400 pounds of bacon a week. iverstinefarms.com
This article was originally published in the April 2023 issue of 225 magazine.