$2 Bacon Vs. $100 Bacon

(sizzling) - Season Four. Who would have thought we would get this far? - Hey, four seasons. Like Vivaldi. (humming) I can't believe you chose that apron. - Comment below. Who wore it better? - I think the answer is quite clear. - Oh yeah? Yeah, I don't think he'll get over this. (classical music) Bacon. Today at Worth It we're going to try three great forms of

bacon

at three drastically different price points to find out which one is the most worth the price. - I'm excited. Bacon is a great food. -I'm actually not that excited about this episode. - Actually? - Yes.

It's just overrated. - The smell and the sound and its taste. - I understand it, but sometimes it's a bit overloaded. - I can definitely understand that. (sneeze) - For this episode we are going to try three

bacon

not only at three prices, but in three different cities. Journey. Journey to heaven. Journey home. - Yes, excellent. - We're going to Palm Springs, honey. (upbeat music) - Hello, my name is Tara Lazar. I own Cheeky's. -How did Cheeky come about? -He was sitting in front of a computer and really wanted a place to have breakfast. I'm from Palm Springs, so I thought I'd open a breakfast place. - You're a little famous, I guess, for your bacon.

How did the bacon flight come about? - I like different types of bacon and I didn't want to have to choose. When we make bacon flights, we choose five different flavors. We change our flights every week. This week one of the flavors is miso butter. Miso has a really good salt content, so when you make bacon you usually need salt and a sweet, even if it's not going to be sweet bacon. The other is rosemary sugar. That's fresh rosemary, chop it up and just put a little bit of brown sugar and salt on it. We bake almost all of our bacon.

It's like the most uniform way to create a perfect slice of bacon. - Now what's your opinion on crispy versus more tender? - What a crunchy girl. What about you guys? - I prefer to chew a little. - I just don't want to fight with my food. - Good. He wants it crispy. Easy to chew, easy to swallow. - Adam sometimes doesn't get enough food on the show. - Should we try to do something to him that makes him feel special? - I think so. - We're kind of breakfast experts, so. - Okay, why don't we leave it to you? - Well. - I like that this sounds like science. - Yes.

Cheers. - Sour but delicious. - Bacon time. - I like to eat a strip of bacon with my hand. Do you agree with that? - Same. Yes. - Although I have a lot of cat scratches on my hands. Is Adam okay? - Wait, you have a cat? - I don't, but I interact with cats frequently. (laughs) I found a cat. He won't be my friend. - Health. - Health. - Oh. I've never had bacon like this before. - That's great. - It is neither chewy nor crunchy. It's chewy. It tastes like a hot bowl of miso stuffed in bacon.

That's a good appetizer. - Yes. - Let's get the next one. Rosemary bacon. Wow. Crispy on the outside. Chewy inside. There are fat bags drooling. What I like the most is when they drool over food because they realize how good it tastes. Oh, oh no. - That's my favorite. Rosemary, the three best herbs easily. - Holy shit, that was the best slice of bacon I've ever had in my life. I can die happy now. - It's time to take flight with the bacon flight. Beeler apple, cinnamon, miso butter, rosemary sugar and a simple smoked one. Also, a jalapeno.

This has to be the way to go, right? - It has to be the cheapest flight you've ever taken. - Oh man. That is. It's so good. It's like the best jalapeño cooked potato chip I've ever had. Because it's bacon. - You are full? - I feel good. - Should we finish that one? - Sure. - Or give it to Adam? (upbeat music) - That was an oh man on the scale of Adam. - Oh man. - Don't say we never fed Adam. - Can I get some of that? (laughs) Oh my God. (laughs) Very good.

Return to Los Angeles? - In a minute. - The flight of bacon. He's been doing it for 10 years. Where were you in 2007? At the prom. - You can not say. - Yes, you were at the prom. - I'm not saying. - You were dancing. What were you doing 10 years ago? Playing RuneScape? - Why, in fact, it was. - I choose Cheeky's. - I already chose Cheeky's. I really like Tara. (laughs) What? Why are you laughing at that? You didn't like Tara? - Made from bacon. What we call Canadian bacon is actually pork loin or strip bacon, which means it's technically not the same as American bacon, which is made from pork belly. - It makes sense because Canada is behind the United States. - Yes. - American bacon, Canadian bacon.

You're looking at the whole pig right there. Now we are on our way to Manuela. - Get something called BLT. Bacon, lettuce, tomato. - It's a sandwich. - You know, I accept BLT. - Newsflash, most people accept BLT. Its main ingredient is bacon. - My name is Christian Truong. I am the chef de cuisine at Manuela restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. - What type of restaurant is Manuela? - A kind of Spanish style. I wouldn't say Tex-Mex, but along those lines. We make local ingredients. Our menu changes daily depending on what we get from the farmers market. - Today we are going to have your BLT.

What are all the steps to deliver that plate? - Put the bread on the grill. A little charcoal to give it that charcoal flavor. Mayo, tomato and some vegetables. - Do you cure bacon at home? - Yes. - Healing is like what I always hear happens to food. - You're getting a lot of moisture out, preserving that meat in there. Change the flavor, the texture. So when you cure it with salt, sugar, and maple syrup for about five days, wash it, air dry it, and smoke it for about three hours. I think a BLT is a simple but really good sandwich.

So in this case we want the bacon to shine. -How much bacon does this sandwich have? Is it like a pretty tall stack or what? - There are five slices. I think it's the perfect amount. - And what do you have? - I have the most beautiful michelada I have ever seen in my entire life. A little cheesy glitter stuck in an olive. I'll give a cat a cutesy name that shined one day in my life. - I have never been a big fan of micheladas. - It is a difficult taste to acquire. As if tastes were Pokémon, you would need a master ball for the michelada. - Health.

Freshly squeezed, freshly made. Oh yeah. That's some good, good juice. - Let's take this sandwich. - Well. - Because I saw how this was done and I was impressed. - Favorite part of that process? Go. - Easily the meat slicer. - Same. - Some people aspire to own luxury cars. You know, your Mercedes-Benz. I want to pay a premium to get that hand crank meat slicer. - Let's eat this BLT. Hmm. I'm sorry for all the bad things I said about bacon today. The bacon is good and not overrated. - This bacon is at the perfect point between crispy and tender. - Draw a graph.

Crispy, tender. It's right on that line. If you step out of that line, you will look like a fool. - Pickle breakage. I love that pickle. It's a very good pickle. What is the shape of bacon? It's like you freeze a strange sound wave. If a strip of bacon were a sound wave, what would it sound like? - Oh. No, you do it. Do wa wa gu gu. It is wavy but not uniformly wavy. - You sound like a grandfather talking to a child. What do you think of bacon? Bacon (speaking in a foreign language). In fact, it is Japanese.

In Germany, bacon is called speck. PARTICLE. - That is a spectacular fact. - In Holland, bacon is called spek. But not C. - It is a spectacular fact. The French call it bacon or lard and Italy considers pancetta like we do bacon. So now we leave Los Angeles to go to the last bacon place in New York City, at Gansevoort Market. - Teleportation is real. - For our final price, a multi-course bacon menu. Omakase. -Omakase? - Mom yes, mom sa, omakase. (upbeat music) - Welcome to Belly at Gansevoort Market. My name is Johnny Wooh. I'm the executive chef.

Today you are going to eat bacon omakase. -And what is omakase? - Omakase is literally, I'll leave it to you. So I will serve the best food on the table. If you don't like it, I try to change it radically. And if you like the course, I just go with the flow. - And what is your experience? - My background is a serious home cook. And this is exactly the same setup. It's almost like serving my friends. And you know, after dinner you become my friend. - Very confident. I hope we'll be friends. - Cabarnet Beringer. - Health.

To the belly of the pig. - So the first dish of the day is sushi with bacon. - Oh. I like where this is going. And what's up here? -Wasabi. - Greetings, Steven. - Health. - That's good. - It's delicious. - I love seeing how food is prepared. You start salivating in anticipation and then there's no delay, right? - It is the preview before the movies. - This is bacon carpaccio. - I'm going to wrap it. - I'm just leaving. - Oh. - What is that reaction? - We've had a lot of crispy bacon, but this one is delicious, soft and delicious.

That's very good. Salad? I didn't sign up for a salad but I'll listen to the chef. - In Korea, mothers, grandmothers, always prepare food with their hands. So that's what I'm doing. With love, you know? We call it hand flavor. - But I'll tell you one thing. My hands don't taste good, so don't go near them. - No problem. - Oh. - Wow. - Thank you. Hmm. It's like a sesame vinaigrette, that's what I would say it tastes like. Are you ready for bacon? - Yes. - Cheers. Hmm. - Oh. I just had a little bit of mustard on it.

Mustard is super powerful. - I love how he immediately read us and then left. - It's like he's already fiddling with something. I think I see a taco in my future. (laughs) - Mom? - It's brie. - It's brie cheese. - Oh yeah. (calm music) What is this? - Grapes. - That's a very good combination. - The tortilla is actually dumpling skin. - Actually? - So it's a deconstructed version of a dumpling. My mom ran restaurants when I was young. She lived on the second floor of that restaurant. I approach smelling food. I mean, I think it's in my blood. - Thank you. -Habanero. (calm music) - I needed this. - Yeah. - It was like bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, pasta.

It's a good break. -Every time Adam eats I feel like I'm watching a David Attenborough documentary. - This is a dumpling. - Well. Are you ready? - Am. - Oh. I just felt this like a wave of nostalgia. Like eating dumplings in my mom's kitchen. The chili is also similar to the one she had. Wow. - So if we came back, would the menu be different? - It's a completely different menu. - Actually? - Yes. - Do you remember that people come here and remember what you served them? - Of course. Sometimes I eat and drink together with clients. - I'd love that.

Next time. 2:01. - At 2:01, yes. - Andrew. - Yeah? - Three bacons, three prices. - Belly, you are in the middle of this hectic market, but somehow it is a cozy experience at home. But my Worth It winner is Manuela. They are dedicated to the process and it is a super cool place to eat. - Cheeky's is my Worth It winner. The bacon was five totally unique bacons. Adam, who's your Worth It winner? Can you believe we've been doing this for three seasons? - I have developed a kind of bear diet. I force feed myself every day and then I go to sleep for six months and do it again and that's the season that's worth it. - Oh yeah.