The Spices Snoop Dogg Uses For His Billionaire Bacon
When America's unexpected sweetheart and critically acclaimed rapper dropped a cookbook instead of a new album, we were thrilled to get some insight into Snoop's recipes and cooking style. Some of the recipes in "From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen," are a bit meh (check out Mashed's review of Snoop's cookbook) and there's been some doubt about how much Snoop actually contributed to the writing of the book. One recipe is worth the price of the book alone, however; Billionaire's Bacon.
Billionaire's Bacon is basically crispy roasted bacon that's been candied in brown sugar and spices. If that sounds a bit indulgent, it absolutely is. In the blurb above the recipe, this dish is said to be ideal for "when you on some real player sh** and ain't got time for that regular swine." The cloying sweetness of the brown sugar is balanced out with two piquant spices: red pepper flakes and ground black pepper. When paired with the molasses and sugar, the salt and fat in the bacon make for a truly delectable combination.
Why two kinds of pepper?
Although they are both spicy seasonings, black pepper and red chili pepper are actually very different ingredients in how they're made and how they taste in food. Black pepper comes from a vining plant called Piper nigrum and is actually a berry of the plant. It provides a smokey, earthy, mildly spicy flavor. Red pepper flakes aren't a particular plant but rather a blend of several red chilis like cayenne and habanero. The chilis are completely dried and then ground up to produce the flakes. Red chilis tend to have more capsaicin than black pepper, the ingredient that gives spicy food its heat. This makes for a sharper, more fiery flavor. Using both helps to balance out the melted brown sugar coating on the bacon.
Billionaire's Bacon calls for equal measures of red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper (1 teaspoon) but the flavor of the red chilis is definitely more pronounced. If you prefer more smokiness, opt for slightly more black pepper than red, and the inverse if you want more heat. Billionaire's Bacon may not be the best dish that Snoop Dogg taught Martha Stewart how to make but if you love the convergence of heat, salt, savory, and sweet, it's worth the cost.