Hungarian Bacon Bread ~ 4th Of July Special ~ Sutni Szalona ~ Noreen's Kitchen

Today is Independence day. While this is the birthday of our nation in America it means different things to different people. Everyone has a touchstone memory of how this day was celebrated in their childhood. Whether it was decorating your bicycle with streamers and spoke covers or marching in the local main street parade and enjoying fireworks, everyone has a memory that they hold dear to their heart on this day. This is mine. Hungarian bacon bread is a touchstone to my past that will always hold a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoy this delicious tradition on this Independence Day! When I was a kid in New Jersey, before my family relocated to Arizona, between birth and 11 years old, there were certain things that went without saying on the Fourth of July. First, you had to have a patriotic outfit. Next you had to decorate your bike and ride it to the parade route with your family. Babies rode in the Radio Flyer and everyone sought out the perfect spot on Main Street. Kids compared their bikes and decided whose was best adorned. Older kids got to ride in the parade! Oh how long the wait was for that? Kids made sure to get just the right spot, not too far from mom so they could catch and gather the candy that would surely be thrown from those floats that were getting ready to come by. In my family the above was the norm, after the parade, it was time for the family barbecue which was usually held at my Mommom and Poppop's house the next town over, in Roebling, a hard working steel mill town that was once busy with the sounds of iron coke being turned into steel wire and girders. On this day, you could smell the wood fire smoke coming from the many row houses in town in preparation for bacon bread. While Roebling was a melting pot of first and second generation immigrant families, Amboy Avenue was filled with Hungarians and Czecs. Mommom being the former and Poppop being the latter. I have wonderful memories of sitting in their back yard with the garage door open, the wood fire built in the open kettle barbecue and the smells of fatback or salt pork being open fire roasted over flames that licked the meat until the fat dripped. I grew up calling this seemingly Gypsy delicacy "Bacon Bread". I remember the adults calling it shudaskenya (phonetic spelling which I most likely butchered). I dug around a bit and found out that this is also known as Sutni Szallona which in Hungarian translates to "bacon barbecue". A time old tradition that has been around since days of yore when community was built around a fire and men became men and stories were shared. The process is simple. Build a hard wood fire. We used dried oak for ours. Take a piece of back bacon that is smoked and/or salted and then the skin side is scored with a knife in a diamond pattern. This will help the rendering of the fat. Sharpen a stick, or use a metal hot dog fork and impale the back bacon on the stick. Decide who will "twirl" the bacon. Slow and steady wins the race. Turn, turn, turn that fat back until it starts to drip it's delicious nectar. This takes patience and time and is not for sissies. It is also not for the weak of heart or the allergic of heat. I believe this would be a better tradition at Christmas! While the bacon is being prepared, get some good rye bread and toppings ready to go. Chopped fresh tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and sweet onion all get laid out in preparation for the eating of the Szallona. When the dripping gets going good, get a piece of rye bread and drip some nectar on there. Then top with the veggies and drip more nectar. Add salt and pepper if desired and enjoy. This is messy and there is a reason you eat it in the yard. But it is so delicious you won't even mind getting chopped vegetables on your flip flops. One bite took me back to standing next to my Poppop and my Mommom and my Daddy standing around that fire. I can hear their laughter and I can see their smiles. This is who I am and where I came from. Thank you for sharing my Fourth of July memory. Thank you to all those who served and have served to make my freedom possible! Happy Eating! Get my cookbooks here: http://bit.ly/1czqM5R Business Inquiries can be sent to: [email protected] Check me out on social media! Facebook: http://on.fb.me/12bdibt Twitter: @noreenskitchen Instagram: http://bit.ly/12bdqrp Google + http://bit.ly/1o5GMYy **MAILING ADDRESS*** Noreen's Kitchen PO Box 14173 New Bern, NC 28561 Have a question for me? Send me an email: [email protected] Noreen's Kitchen Community Guidelines (The Rules) http://bit.ly/2i7VocU Any links to Amazon are, in many cases, affiliate links. Produced by Noreen's Kitchen ©2008-2016 all rights reserved All embeds must live link to Noreen's Kitchen channel. No Editorial Excerpts without permission, Violators agree to pay $5,000 per second + $10 per view + all collections & lawyers fees.