Bacon Broth at Recette (Food Memories of 2011, No. 7)

Every day in December, I'm blogging to remember (and be thankful for) something I ate this year.

Way back in January, Boyfriend and I went to Recette in New York for dinner. This tiny but stellar restaurant exceeded my expectations in so many ways, but it was strange because it caught my interest with flavors and foods that I am not typically drawn toward.

One is bacon. I get it. Everyone adores bacon. Bacon is just so wonderful and makes everything taste better... unless your taste buds don't get excited by salt or grease, which pretty well describes mine. I like bacon fine, and in some circumstances it's extraordinary, but I prefer it small, balanced doses.

Recette had a soup that had bacon broth. It wasn't just broth made with bacon, but a warm and smokey liquid that created a base for other flavors.

Thinking back, it's hard to remember exactly how it all worked. All I really remember was bacon flavor in a light broth, with no chunks of meat, and foam of some kind. My notes about the dish read like this:
"autumn squash espuma, or a smooth soup that had been whipped and aerated almost into a foam, and in the middle, blanketed by soup, lay a single piece of roasted foie gras; a scattering of brussel sprout pieces added chew, and a bacon broth added tableside enveloped the whole thing with salt and depth."