Bacon

Everything gets better if you add a little bacon—and Americans are certainly putting forth their best efforts. We've made bacon ice cream, put bacon inside our waffles, wrapped it around every type of food and even made it into lollipops. If anything, we're having a hard time figuring out where bacon can't go. James Beard Award-winning author Josh Ozersky pinpoints the reason behind our obsession: "Nothing brings the bliss like bacon: a sudden rush of saltiness and sweetness and fat and smoke, and no fewer than six types of umami." Food & Wine will help you squeeze even more bacon into your life with awesome recipes, tips for making large batches at once and unexpected ways to add this smoky meat to your next meal.