So here’s how this whole thing started: Last summer, I heard that some county fairs were serving chocolate candy bars with bacon in them. Um…yuck.

A quick Google search revealed that fancy chocolatiers are also selling bacon bars. My initial thoughts? Though chocolate should be a required food group (in my opinion), and though bacon is a fantastic accompaniment to any breakfast…the two should probably keep their distance from each other. They just weren’t made to go together.

I blogged, briefly, about these thoughts, and one of my commenters had the audacity to dare me to try a bacon bar. Hmph. I don’t take every challenge thrown down before me, but I certainly consider challenges involving chocolate… And after much contemplation, and a fair amount of chocolate consumption that didn’t involve bacon, I decided to give it a try. I placed my order, and last week it arrived: Mo’s Bacon Bar.

It sat on the counter for several days. Did I really want to do this? C. kept eying it up; Chad asked when I was going to try it. And finally, last night, I gave in and we conducted:

The Bacon Bar Taste Test

First step: Examining the package. The back of the box tells the story of the founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat (don’t ask me how that’s pronounced), and the steps that led her to create this bizarre intersection of chocolate and bacon. She began her story by reminiscing about eating bacon along with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast when she was 6 years old. Hm… I suppose I could see that happening; and I suppose it wouldn’t be too horrible to have a bite of pancake with a bite of bacon.

But the kicker? Her name is…..Katrina. Yep. I’m not kidding. Was this a sign?

And she signed her story with “Peace, love and chocolate, Katrina.” Hm. Including chocolate with her sign-off shows that she’s got good sense, right?

Second step: Extracting the foil-covered bar. I pulled the bar out of the box in which it came. And sniffed. Nothing. The foil packaging was well-sealed. So at the very least, this would be a fresh candy bar, even if questionable in contents.

Third step: Revealing the candy bar. Out it came. Smooth milk chocolate. No weird chunks of bacon sticking out. That’s good. I sniffed again. Definitely something there. Chad and C. said they could immediately smell bacon. I wasn’t sure. I smelled something…something salty. But it didn’t have an overwhelming bacon-y aroma.

Fourth step: Finding a guinea pig. Just in case it turned out to be really gross, I decided to force allow C. to be my guinea pig. He was more than happy to try the first square of Mo’s Bacon Bar. And I was more than happy to catch him on tape. A few things you might notice about this video: 1) Apparently, my camera is highly sensitive and picks up all kinds of eating noises. Turn down your audio if this will gross you out. 2) Yes, Max & Ruby is on in the background. This was to ensure that we could perform the taste test with minimal interruption from a certain 2-year-old.

Fifth step: Trying the bacon bar. C. hadn’t collapsed. In fact, he had enjoyed his square of bacon bar. So I took a deep breath, handed my husband a square, took a square for myself…and bit in.

Chocolaty, yes… Salty, yes… Wait a minute, there’s a sliver of bacon. That feels weird. But doesn’t taste horrible. In fact, I think it tastes okay. Not too bacon-y, but that’s a good thing.

Chad said he definitely tasted bacon. I’m not sure I did. I’m not saying I didn’t taste any bacon, just that it didn’t taste like I had taken a slab of bacon and stuck it on top of a chocolate bar. It was more subtle. A touch of salt, a savory lingering… but primarily chocolate. Good chocolate. And that’s always a good thing.

Sixth step: Sharing with the toddler. By this point, L. had realized that we were eating something. Something that was not vegetables or chicken. Something…that looked yummy. “Some, Mommy! Some, please!!” I gave him just a teeny corner, not sure what he’d think. Well, here’s what he thought: “More, Mommy! More, please!!”

Our final evaluation: The Bacon Bar is not nearly as weird or yucky as I had initially imagined. In fact, it tastes rather good. I don’t know if I’d pick it over a chocolate bar involving caramel or cashews or almonds, but I wouldn’t turn it down if someone offered one to me. My only (minor) compaint was that coming across bits of bacon while I was chewing was odd. A crunchy nut is fine and welcome in chocolate bars, but a chewy bacon bit would take some getting used to. The rest of my family, however, would go even further in their praise: Chad, C., and L. all thoroughly enjoyed Mo’s Bacon Bar, and I didn’t have any trouble finding takers for the remaining candy bar squares.