
The Story
Introduction to Bacon & the Art of Living
The story of bacon is set in the late 1800s and early 1900s when most of the crucial developments in bacon took place. The plotline occurs in the 2000s, with each character referring to a natural person and actual events. The theme is a kind of “steampunk” where modern mannerisms, speech, clothes, and practices are superimposed on a historical setting. Characters interact with one another with all the historical and cultural bias that goes with this. The period of technology it covers is breathtaking. Beginning in pre-history, it traces the development of curing technology until the present, where bacon curing is possible without adding nitrites.
The work is nearing completion. I put this out for review and comment. Sincere thanks to every one of you who has contributed so much over many years!
Eben van Tonder
Cape Town
2016

Index
- Chapter 01.00: Bacon, my Teacher!
- Chapter 02.00: The Curing Molecule
- Chapter 03.00: Once Upon a Time in Africa
- Chapter 04.00: Dry Cured Bacon
- Chapter 05.00: The Development of Dry Curing from Salt Only to Salt, Saltpeter and Sugar
- Chapter 06.01: Kolbroek
- Chapter 06.02: Kolbroek (A Follow-up)
- Chapter 07.00: The Shambles – Meat Quality and the Human Mind
- Chapter 08.00: Seeds of War
- Chapter 09.00: Drums of Despair
- Chapter 10.00: The Greatest Adventure
- Chapter 11.01: Woody’s Bacon
- Chapter 11.02: The Spirit of Joshua Penny
- Chapter 12.00: The Denmark Letters
- Chapter 12.01.1: William Oakes Mild-Cured Bacon
- Chapter 12.01.2: Mild-Cured Bacon and the Curers of Wiltshire
- Chapter 12.02: The Danish Cooperative and the Beauty of Saltpeter
- Chapter 12.03: Minette, Adventure, and Their Fusion in Nitrogen
- Chapter 12.04: The Saltpeter Letter
- Chapter 12.05: The Polenski letter
- Chapter 12.06: From Sea to Deserts – Sal Ammoniac, Urine and Horse Sweat
- Chapter 12.07: Lauren Learns the Nitrogen Cycle
- Chapter 12.08: Von Liebig and the theory of proteins of Gerard Mulder
- Chapter 12.09: David Graaff’s Armour – A Tale of Two Legends.
- Chapter 13.00: The UK Letters
- Chapter 13.01: Lord Lansdowne!
- Chapter 13.02.01: Sweet Cured Harris Bacon!
- Chapter 13.02.02: Robert Henderson and the invention of the smokehouse
- Chapter 13.03: American ice houses for England: Year-round curing
- Chapter 13.04: Ice cold in Africa
- Chapter 13.05: Ice Cold Revolution.
- Chapter 13.06.00: Harris Bacon – From Pale Dried to Tank Curing.
- Chapter 13.06.01: Oake-Woods & Co., Ltd., Rapid, and Auto-Cured Bacon
- Chapter 13.07: John Harris reciprocates!
- Chapter 13.08: Irish Animosity.
- Chapter 13.09: The Wiltshire Cut
- Chapter 13.10: Engaged to be Married.
- Chapter 13.11: The Salt of the earth
- Chapter 13.12: The Salt of the land and the sea
- Chapter 13.13: The Salt of meat
- Chapter 13.14: Dublin and the Injection of Meat.
- Chapter 13.15: The English Pig with links to the Kolbroek and Kunekune
- Chapter 13.16: Wiltshire Cured or Tank Cured Bacon.
- Chapter 14.00: Letters from New Zealand.
- Chapter 14.01: Our Manuka Bay Wedding
- Chapter 14.02: The Kune-Kune
- Chapter 14.03: Aron Vecht
- Chapter 14.04: Aron Vecht: His Curing Method and Businesses
- Chapter 14.05: Henry Denny’s Singeing of Pork and Related Reflections on Vecht
- Chapter 14.06: The Grandfather of Henry Trengouse: Foundation of Principle
- Chapter 15.00: The Union Letters.
- Chapter 15.01: The Fathers of Meat Curing.
- Chapter 15.02: Fresh Meat Colour vs Cooked Cured Colour.
- Chapter 15.03: The Direct Addition of Nitrites to Curing Brines – the Master Butcher from Prague.
- Chapter 15.04: The Direct Addition of Nitrites to Curing Brines – The Spoils of War.
- Chapter 15.05: The Preserving Power of Nitrite.
- Chapter 15.06: Regulations of Nitrate and Nitrite post-1920’s: the problem of residual nitrite.
- Chapter 15.07: The Ascorbate-Letter.
- Chapter 15.08: The Erythorbate Letter.
- Chapter 15.09: The Curing Reaction
- Chapter 15.10: Meat Curing – A Review.
- Chapter 15.11: The Quilliam Family and the Early Days of Pig Breeding in South Africa.
- Chapter 16.00: The Best Bacon on Earth.
- Chapter 16.01.1: The Castlemaine Bacon Company.
- Chapter 16.02: Eskort Ltd.
- Chapter 16.03: On Innovation and Creativity.
- Chapter 16.04: Vegetable Dies
- Chapter 17.01: Finally – From Mummies to Nitrosamines
- Chapter 17.02: Finally – Nitrosamines
- Chapter 17.03: Finally – Nitrite is Physiologically Vital
- Chapter 17.04: Finally – The Human Nitrogen Cycle – Basis for Nitrite’s Physiological Value
- Chapter 17.05: Finally – Bacon, the Superfood
- Chapter 17.06: Finally – Oake Woods, the Wonder of R&D and the Final Conclusion
- Chapter 18 – Woody’s Photos.
- Chapter 19 – Roy Oliver.
Start Reading
Follow the “Next” button at the bottom of every chapter to advance to the next.
Themes in Bacon & the Art of Living
The greatest themes are dealt with. Below I give title pages listing the different themes from Bacon & the Art of Living.
In the development of bacon curing technology, four iconic curing methods stand between the old dry-cured system and the modern system of the direct addition of nitrites to curing brines and the latest development which is Grid bacon. Here I list the chapters dedicated to these different systems of curing.
In the post above I list all the chapters in Bacon & the Art of Living which deals with the legendary company from Calne, Wiltshire, C & T Harris. I present the chapters for those who desire to restrict their inquiry to the Harris operations.
I fell in love with the story of the Kolbroek from the first time I heard it. It is one of the indigenous South African pig breeds, closely related to the Kune Kune from New Zealand. In trying to trace the origins of these breeds, I had to go back to the development of the English pig. It’s one of the greatest stories of our trade and here I share the complete work from Bacon & the Art of Living on these amazing animals! The list of chapters dealing with these is given in the link above.
In Bacon & the Art of Living, I dedicate three chapters to salt. It remains one of my favourite study subjects. The truth is that I only scratched the surface. It is a subject that I will return to often and I am planning to expand on Chapter 10.12, The Salt of the Land and the Sea. In the link above, I present the three chapters for those who are interested in a more thematic study.

(c) eben van tonder
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The Wiltshire Baskerville and Caswell families were since the 1300s landowner neighbors in Yatesbury and Winterbourne Bassett, and ran in high circles, (Sheriff of Wiltshire, Rectors of Witney etc.) They were, I believe, also neighbors in the USA Virginias, owning plantations etc.
About 1760 William Baskerville and his wife Mary Hardy were in Tipperary Ireland, as was the Wiltshire Caswell family. Both families were wealthy and land owners. I think they were a driving force in the export of pigs from Ireland.
Cork was the port where pigs were shipped to Bristol, and then driven through Wiltshire (Calne) toward London. Harris of Calne was established in 1770 by the widow Sarah Harris. It wasn’t until 1848 when George Harris visited New York, that the Wiltshire mild cure was discovered in Schenectady.
I think the Irish Oake business probably obtained the Mild Cure process from the Americans, as did the Harris company, and did not invent the process.
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