Grateful for Bacon

Grateful Bread's maple-cured slab bacon is a thing of wonder. It's a lot like the meaty Hungarian and Polish slab bacon I buy at Phoenicia and the Russian General Store, only fresher and without the preseveratives. I like to slice it extra thick, cook it slowly and leave it a little chewy. This is bacon that takes a little work with the knife and fork.

By now the story of bacon-maker and Farmer's Market rock star Al Marcus has become well-known. As Mike Morris has reported, Al's son Matt, a CIA-trained chef, started the business to make challah bread while Three Brothers was out of business after Ike. Father Al came along to sell his homemade bacon and sausage.

Today, Three Brothers is making challah again, and Matt took a job at a classy restaurant in Healdsburg, California. Meyerland resident Al Marcus is spending long hours in his backyard tending his five Big Green Egg grills he uses to smoke his bacon and sausage. Marcus also makes mustard, Worcestershire sauce and other condiments.

He can be found on Saturdays at the Urban Harvest or T'afia markets, and at the Rice Farmer's Market Tuesdays from 3:30 to 7 p.m.