Ba-concoction

Homer Simpson’s dream: Bacon-flavored Cotton Candy

Finally, bacon meets cotton candy

Robert Francis Editor

 

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Attempting to make the fry-happy State Fair of Texas chefs look like a bunch of loony health food wackos, the Texas Motor Speedway has unveiled a new taste treat: Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy.

This Homer Simpsonesque treat comes courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway executive chef Joel Pena, who, according to a news release, “spent the offseason in the kitchen trying to find ways to tie in Texas’ unique culture while at the same time building off the speedway’s ‘No Limits’ Wild Asphalt Circus theme.” Sounds like he accomplished his goal.

The news release also includes this sublime bit of understatement:

“The creation came naturally to Chef Pena, who wanted to capitalize on the race fan’s affinity for bacon.” Nothing like reinforcing a stereotype.

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“It will definitely create a buzz,” Pena said in a news release. “Expect the unexpected when you come to Texas Motor Speedway. That is the philosophy of the Wild Asphalt Circus theme and that is what fans are going to get with ‘Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy.’ We wanted to come up with something that is a traditional circus theme, but turn it around and make it something completely different and unique to Texas Motor Speedway.”

So what does Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy consist of? Four ounces of bacon-infused cotton candy, topped with candy-coated bits of bacon. Candy-coated? Sure, why not. Julia Child, quit spinning in your grave.

The taste treat will be sold in a specially packaged wrapper featuring the Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy logo during race weekend, so no one suspects you of eating that wimpy, good-for-you, regular cotton candy.

Again from the news release:

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“After trying countless artificial flavorings, Chef Pena discovered the only way to get the desired flavor was to use real bacon.” It’s pretty sad that the only way to get bacon flavor is to use real bacon. What use are millions in research and development dollars if we can’t create a decent fake bacon flavor? Texas A&M, please pick up this challenge. 

Pena then details the true genius of this new food item: “After cooking the bacon, it is drained, dried and locked into an airtight container with sugar for 24 hours. The sugar then takes on the traditional smokiness and flavoring of bacon to create ‘Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy.’”

“What makes the ‘Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy’ a home run is that we use real bacon to infuse the flavor into the sugar,” Pena said. “All the race fans love bacon. We hope to see a lot of hands full of cotton candy in April.”

The 2013 race season at Texas Motor Speedway kicks off with the April 11-13 Texas 500 NASCAR weekend, featuring the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. I’m sure that at the Austin Grand Prix, some chef is working on tofu-flavored cotton candy.

 In Market is a column written from the perspective of a plugged-in business journalist about business happenings in and around Tarrant County. Got an idea for In Market? Robert Francis can be reached at rfrancis@bizpress.net.