The Bacon Cookbook: More than 150 Recipes from Around the World for Everyone's Favorite Food [Hardcover]

In response to the prior review, there's definitely much more here than just instructions on how to cook bacon -- the book includes recipes using bacon in all different kinds of dishes, even dessert, believe it or not! I always find James Villas's books to be thorough and well-written, and this one is no exception -- definitely a great gift for a bacon-lover!

First of all: who WOULDN'T like a cookbook dedicated to bacon? Every recipe in here uses bacon. Or pancetta. Or lard fumé. Or salt pork... And the recipes are a good variety, too: appetizers, soups and stews, entrees -- even bacon-wrapped desserts.

A couple quick notes:
(1) Keep in mind that because this cookbook is about bacon, is dedicated to bacon, and is gourmet, it's going to all for some specialty varieties of bacon. Granted the introduction tells you a bit about how to work around this but the recipes will also say that it won't be the same without some specialized type of salt-smoked bacon only made in Western Canada.
(2) While most of the recipes are ones that are sure to please, quite a few of them also call for organs -- liver and kidneys. Be warned.

The Bacon Cookbook is a bacon lover's delight. At first glance it looks like it could just be a novelty cookbook that one might not actually cook from day to day, but after spending time with this cookbook it is clear that this is not the case at all. It's full of interesting, unique, and classic recipes that will allow you to use bacon in all kinds of diverse ways.

The book begins with a comprehensive introduction on bacon that tells you almost everything you would want to know. It discusses what bacon is, the history of it, international styles of bacon, how to buy and store bacon, etc. It also has a pretty extensive list of mail order sources for premium bacon if you want to go beyond what can be purchased in your area. It was pretty exhaustive and enlightening. The only thing I wish it had covered was recipes to make your own bacon. This is what would have taken the cookbook from 4 to 5 stars for me. It would have been especially great to have recipes for some of the artisan and more unique bacons called for in the recipes incase you cannot find them in your area.

The rest of the cookbook covers recipes for appetizers, breakfast, soups and chowders, salads and sandwiches, casseroles and stews, main courses, vegetables and fruit, pasta and rice, breads, and desserts. I was really impressed with the breadth of recipes offered in this book. You'll find some great classic American recipes in here, but there are also dishes that draw from international cuisine as well as fusion dishes. I really appreciated that there were a lot of recipes here that I hadn't seen in any other cookbook (and I have a pretty extensive collection) so even if you have a lot of cookbooks you won't feel like you've seen everything in here before. Some of the recipes that most excited me were the Venezuelan Squash, Potato, and Bacon Pancakes, Hot Bacon-Blue Cheese Dip, Bacon-Cheddar Popcorn and especially the Bacon Truffles. The variety of recipes also means that this book is great for people with different palates. Those who like more traditional dishes will find plenty in here to like as will people who enjoy more adventurous or international cuisine.

The recipes are also very clearly written so they are easy to follow. The one thing worth mentioning is that most of this recipes do take a little prep time so many fall outside the 30 minute window. If you're looking for quick and easy meals many of the recipes won't qualify. However, my feeling is they are worth the time.

Overall this is a great book. I highly recommend it for any bacon fan who wants to learn more about this pork product and find more creative ways to cook with it.