How Bacon And Eggs Became An Inseparable Breakfast Duo
The culinary world of Wonder Twins is truly special. Whether we are talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peas and carrots, macaroni and cheese, or cookies and ice cream, Restaurant Clicks notes there are just some foods that magically go together and transform into a new level of satiation when your taste buds are involved. One of the most dynamic duos your lips and tongue will encounter is the classic pairing of bacon and eggs. But what is it about these two proteins that pair so well together?
Well, according to SciShow, there's a real "molecular reason for their chef's kiss perfection," and it is all about our favorite food word "umami," which references the savory characteristic of a food. The outlet goes on to explain that the amino acid glutamate is at the root of this flavor that excites our taste buds, and adds that when you pair an umami flavor with another umami flavor, the taste goes off the charts for its deliciousness quotient — aka its "umami synergy."
Umami synergy is at the heart of why bacon and eggs are so delicious together and how they became a "thing" way back when. That said, just how did their coupling happen?
It was all about PR
The ship of bacon and eggs is a love story for the ages — well at least to those who love a good "for the sake of good public relations" tale. According to Eater, the pairing of eggs and bacon really took off in the 1920s. The popularity was largely due to advertising and some PR manipulation. The food site goes on to share that a Beech-Nut Packing Company's PR consultant and mastermind named Edward Bernays could be pinpointed as the force behind pushing bacon and eggs as a dynamic duo. In fact, as much as this pairing was believed to be a team effort for both foods, as it turns out, bacon was actually the food causing the real stir.
Bernays can be seen in a video explaining how Americans actually were fans of a light breakfast; However, his task was to convince the people of the United States that what they really craved was bacon and eggs. So, he and his team enlisted their company doctor to write a letter to 5,000 doctors, asking if they also felt that a big breakfast was better than a small one. In turn, all of them concurred that a heavy breakfast would "improve the health" of people in the U.S. and the results of their claims were made public in newspapers.
The sale of bacon is said to have gone up in the process, as well as the love of bacon and eggs. Mission complete.