Monday, July 7, 2008

tryptophan junky


Those of you that know me might know that I was once a vegetarian. For ten years I ate a diet heavy in fruits, veggies, soy-product (in fact, I still like to eat marinated soy “steaks” raw out of the packaging...to the disgust of many friends), and candy.

Then, bacon returned to my life...and with it a slow at first, then exponential increase in carnivorous desire. Finally, late one night, I found myself standing in my parents’ kitchen--pulse racing, tangibly afraid of being discovered--digging leftover hunks of turkey out of the Thanksgiving carcass. A tryptophan junky.

It was then that I re-embraced the morally-dubious, yet inevitable deliciousness of flesh. Though I still eat it sparingly, and rarely (if ever) down a steak...given a chance and a slab of maple bacon, I’ll hork it down quite happily--especially if it is accompanied by bicuits cooked in that same bacon’s fat.

Enjoy the above diagram, thoughtfully provided to me by my friend Juniper...herself a world-class porkficionnado (not to mention fantastic actor and wonderful chef).

5 comments:

steph said...

i love it, tryptophan junkie, even though i do NOT love the meats myself!

Tonya Lee said...

google image search: krispy kreme burger...

not that i would EVER eat it. but, after seeing it, my first thought was that it really should have bacon on it.

the images give me heart palpitations and shallow breathing.

madeleine said...

OMG, kkBurger, makes my heart hurt...but yes, it does need the bacon!

Anonymous said...

i can give up a lot of things but, pork is my friend. Im a porkaholic myself. Gots to have it. Ham...dont get me started on ham. I gotta have ham...damn, im getting hungry.

madeleine said...

Haha, the funny thing is, I just read this book, "Heat" and part of it talks about the traditions of butchering animals (pigs and cows) in Italy, and how, because there are fewer governmental regulations, and because it is a matter of pride, various butcher shops not only do things very differently from how we here do, but also with more respect and love for the animal, and therefore the food itself.

There, they elevate the process and act to a craft. Here, it's bottomline dollars and cents.

But there, they will eat fresh lard off the pig. I'm not sure I could stomach it, but I love the sentiment.