Christopher Morgan

A scene from this year's Bacon and Beer Festival.

Several years ago, Purina started broadcasting a line of commercials featuring a dog awakened by the scent of Beggin' Strips. Not knowing the odor didn't belong to real bacon, the dog frantically ran through the house, then finally found a strip and exclaimed, "It's BACON!" But while dogs may not know it's not bacon, Denver diners certainly know when they've got a dish that contains the genuine article.

Here are seven signs that this city is obsessed with bacon.

See also:
- Photos: Denver Bacon & Beer Festival 2013
- Denver Bacon Company launches -- and sizzles at the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival
- Five fast-food trend fails of 2012 -- including the ruination of bacon!

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Denver Bacon Company

Judging from the sentiments posted on the Denver Bacon Company's Facebook page -- emotions like the accolades below -- chef Justin Brunson's maple slabs of hog should have brought home the blue ribbon at last week's Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival, which took place in Iowa's capital city.

See also:
- Exclusive sneak peek: Old Major, opening on February 22
- Bacon, beer and Justin Brunson: Porky photos from Denver's kick-ass Bacon and Beer Festival
- Justin Brunson will open Old Major -- a swine, wine and seafood restaurant -- in Highland

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Lori Midson

Porchetta po-boys with bacon jam; bacon and cashew caramel corn; bacon macaroni and cheese; bacon fat potato chips; bacon chocolate chip cookies; bacon and pork belly Reuben; bacon and ramen; bacon and oyster chowder; bacon fat duck sliders; bacon-strangled flying pig belly; candied bacon; bacon, goat cheese and kale tarts; bacon strips; bacon boardgames; bacon onesies for babies; bacon costumes; bacon gyrating -- and a pig necklace -- from Mark DeNittis; bacon deviled eggs; and Justin Brunson's bacon.

See also:
- Denver Beer and Bacon Festival slideshow
- Justin Brunson will open Old Major -- a swine, wine and seafood restaurant -- in Highland
- Do bacon and beer really go together? Find out at the Denver Bacon and Beer Fest
- Top five reasons why bacon will never be over

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Fred and Ginger; baseball and hotdogs; sunsets and walks on the beach; Bella and Edward. Some things are meant for one another. But beer and bacon? The jury is still out on that one. Event planning company Eat Boston, along with Forkly and Denver Off the Wagon, hope to deliver a guilty verdict on December 9, though, when they host the Bacon & Beer Festival, a greasy, hoppy fiesta that will include 25 Denver/Boulder area chefs, who will make bacon-based dishes, and an equal number of breweries.

See also:
- More than 75 homebrewers will compete to create Mountain Sun's next Stout Month beer
- Four of the best bacon-friendly wines you've never tried
- Top five reasons why bacon will never be over

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Everybody loves bacon, but what would you give up in exchange for a precious slice of pig? That was the question Oscar Mayer set out to answer when the company loaded comedian and actor John Sankey with 3,000 pounds of its new Thick Cut Bacon (that's about $20,000 of pig) to use as barter as he traveled across the country, from New York to L.A.

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Eric Gruneisen

Elise Wiggins of Panzano.

Executive chef Elise Wiggins of Panzano, our Best Italian Restaurant in the Best of Denver 2012, broke down a 175-pound wild Russian boar from Tender Belly in her restaurant's kitchen on Saturday afternoon. And of course, we wanted to show you where the bacon -- and much of the other meat used in special dishes at Panzano this week -- comes from. Photos below! (Warning: Not for the squeamish, or probably vegetarians.)

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When you are a thief, like Burger King, you have two possible paths to success: 1) be a really good thief and don't get caught, or 2) steal something big and pricey so you can retire early and faff around with the piss-ant stuff.

I couldn't help but think of this when I saw BK consistently and blatantly purloining the idea its new bacon sundae -- currently in test markets until it decides to unleash it on the fast-food scene.

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Sarah Cowell

A snowstorm might not be the best weather for a pig roast, but that didn't prevent a crowd from descending on Boulder's Oak at Fourteenth last night for the restaurant's first quarterly pig roast, a new tradition that was slated to get off the ground the very week the six-month-old spot went up in flames last year.

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J. Wohletz

Burger King issued a battle cry yesterday. In order to help boost its sluggish sales -- the chain has slipped to third, behind McDonald's and Wendy's -- the company rolled out the heavy artillery: ten new menu items, including specialty salads, chicken snack wraps, smoothies, flavored frozen coffee drinks, some slightly revamped burgers and a chicken-strip reboot. Some of these items sounded suspiciously like what McDonald's started introducing back in 2003. Has BK learned anything in the decade since then? I decided to find out.

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"This scallop recipe is a simple, seasonal dish that can be easily executed by a home cook -- and it's a definite crowd-pleaser," says Ambria executive chef Jeremy Kittelson, who's featured in this week's Chef and Tell interview. The agrodolce, which means "sweet and sour" in Italian, can be made in advance, as can the bacon. "Everyone love scallops, and the other flavors really blend perfectly, plus the dish pairs beautifully with wine, especially a riesling, sauvignon blanc or chardonnay," he notes.

And here's a tip from Kittelson for those of you making the recipe at home: "Use a paper towel to pat the scallops -- or any fish -- dry before you saute them. It removes any moisture from the surface and gives the fish a better crust." And, recommends Kittelson, "buy the freshest and best seafood you can find and afford."

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