Camp Bacon is a long weekend of bacon events at Zingerman’s Southside in Ann Arbor, MI on June 17-20, 2010.

This weekend brings the biggest event to hit the Southside yet, Zingerman’s Camp Bacon.  A celebration of all things bacon, starting Friday night when legendary R&B man Andre Williams threatens to tear the Roadhouse down with a live performance for the ages.  Fresh off of a European tour, Williams is stopping in town just long enough to throw down at the corner of Jackson and Maple, so don’t miss this opportunity to pair great American food with great American music.  And if you didn’t know, Andre Williams has a brand new album and a book.

Saturday brings Camp Bacon’s Main Event.  We’re bringing some of the biggest names in the bacon business to Ann Arbor to dive into our favorite subject.  Highlights of the Main Event include:

• Bacon tasting with Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig
• Hands-on pancetta-making class with Herb Eckhouse
  from La Quercia in Iowa
• Bacon cooking demo with James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and chef Molly Stevens
• My life as a Bacon curer with Allan Benton from East Tennessee
  and Nick Spencer from Chicago
• A Reading from Sarah Katherine Lewis, author of Sex and Bacon: Why I Love Things that are Very, Very Bad for Me
• How Bacon Changed My Life: Presentations from curers and bacon professionals around the country
• Plus breakfast and lunch from Zingerman’s, a free copy of Ari’s Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon, a free t-shirt and more!

That’s just the first half of the day.  When 3 o’clock hits, the Camp Bacon becomes a street fair that includes tastes ofbacon from some of America’s best—Nueske’s, Benton’s, La Quercia, Ozark Mountain Trails and more.  We’ll be set up farmer’s market-style with some Creamery cheese paired with bacon, Maple Bacon Gelato and other goodies.  There’s no charge but participants are encouraged to make a $5 donation for the Washtenaw County 4-H program.

After it’s grand debut at the Gelato Kickoff, Maple Bacon Gelato will return for the bacon festivities.  Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon is caramelized and spiced with pepper and a touch of heat before being folded into rich Maple gelato.  We do have some in the case now so if you didn’t get a chance to taste it over the weekend, be sure to give it a try when you are in.

June Cheese of the Month  -  Lincoln Log

This style of aged goat cheese was one of the first to catch on here in the States.  And while it is an aged, mold-ripened cheese, the fact that boucherons imported from France would often be several weeks, if not maybe months, old by the time they graced the case of the Deli and other cheese shops was practicaly a travesty.  So few knew what this type of cheese was truly supposed to be!

With that in mind, not too long after the Creamery began, John decided to tackle boucheron and add it to our repertoire and it has been one of our most popular cheeses since.   This dense, log-shaped cheese is about four inches in diameter and is covered with a thin, white mold. It has a very rich texture with hints of citrus, a mild goat flavor and a touch of mushroom finish.

All June long, enjoy some Lincoln Log for $2-off a pound!

Cheese Tasting:  The Beauty of the Bovine

Jersey and brown swiss and holsteins oh my! Dairy cowa provide th emilk for the majority of the world’s cheese, and this tasting is dedicated to their fine work! Learn why so much cheese is made from cow’s milk, he properties of this milk, and the different kinds of cow’s that produce it. Come ready to try some of our very favorites!

Sunday, June 20th *4-6 pm* $25* Call: 734-929-0500 for reservations

Are you an avid Facebooker?   Check out our Event for the Tasting!

Join us at Zingerman’s Creamery on Saturday, June 12th for our annual, start-of-the-summer Gelato Kickoff Event!  Each year we try and start off the summer right by sharing a taste of everyone’s favorite frozen Italian dessert with all who walk through our door.  And this year, not only is it your chance to taste the debut of our summer gelato flavors, Luciano’s Lemon and Coco-Nut, but you will also get the chance to taste our exciting new work-in-progress, MAPLE BACON GELATO!  As you may know, one week after the kickoff is another great Southside event, Zingerman’s Camp Bacon.  We figured there was no time like now to develop one of our most-requested, off-the-beaten path flavors…

But we need your help!

When we develop a new flavor, it goes through quite an extensive process before it actually hits our case.   And this year we are throwing caution to the wind and need the help of your palate.  When you come up with a flavor like Hazelnut, or Lemon, or Mint Chip, you kind of have a context and idea of what it might be like.  Something like Bacon gelato though, is a bit of a wild card.  That being said, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to flip the script and have you all become official gelato taste-testers.  So please let us know what you think!

• Come on by the Cheese Shop anytime between 11am – 4pm for a free scoop of gelato.
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• Meet our gelato-maker, Josh, and learn the intricacies of gelato-making at either of 2 free demonstrations at Noon or 2pm.
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• And if our Maple Bacon Gelato has really wet your appetite for all-things cured and porcine, be sure to check us out again on June 19th for Camp Bacon at Zingerman’s Creamery.  Full details available at the Camp Bacon website.
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June Cheese of the Month  -  Lincoln Log

Ann Arbor’s very own boucheron.  Who says you need to travel to France to get a taste of the L’or Valley?  In fact, it was for that very reason that the Lincoln Log was born!  This style of aged goat cheese was one of the first to catch on here in the States.  And while it is an aged, or even more appropriately, a mold-ripened cheese, the fact that boucherons imported from France would often be several weeks, if not maybe months, old by the time they graced the case of the Deli and other cheese shops was practicaly a travesty.  So few knew what this type of cheese was truly supposed to be!

With that in mind, not too long after the Creamery began, John decided to tackle boucheron and add it to our repertoire and it has been one of our most popular cheeses since.  All June long, enjoy some Lincoln Log for $2-off a pound!

Cheese Tasting:  The Beauty of the Bovine

Jersey and brown swiss and holsteins oh my! Dairy cowa provide th emilk for the majority of the world’s cheese, and this tasting is dedicated to their fine work! Learn why so much cheese is made from cow’s milk, he properties of this milk, and the different kinds of cow’s that produce it. Come ready to try some of our very favorites!

Sunday, June 20^th *4-6 pm* $25* Call: 734-929-0500 for reservations

Are you an avid Facebooker?   Check out our Event for the Tasting!