Bacon from Delco's 1732 Meats is 'essential'

New Yorkers are about to start eating Philly's lunch - our lunch meat, that is.

New York magazine has listed 1732 Meats Garlic Insanity bacon as one of 50 Pantry Essentials for the Modern Gourmet. Editors laud the Philly-cured pork belly as having "extra oomph," calling it "part meat, part fat, part vampire slayer."

1732 Meats proprietor Ari Miller started making bacon at his Lansdowne home as a hobby, but once he started selling it at farmers markets, he could hardly keep up with production. Last spring, Miller opened a 4,000-square-foot, USDA-certified charcuterie plant. His bacon is now distributed nationwide via Chefs' Warehouse ($8.99 for a half-pound package).

Philadelphians looking to taste Garlic Insanity can do so Saturday, Nov. 14 at the third annual Philadelphia Bacon and Beer Festival - more than 20 local restaurants will be serving dishes made with 1732 Meats bacon.

Tickets to the event, which is a fundraiser for MANNA, are $46.50 (here), and include all the food you care to sample plus pours of more than 50 beers from such top independent breweries as Victory, Allagash, Dogfish Head, and Yards. (A $75 VIP ticket lets you skip the line, and includes a t-shirt plus a pack of Garlic Insanity bacon to take home.)

New York magazine's list also includes another local favorite: tahini from Soom Foods. Produced by three Philly-based sisters, the sesame seed paste is a favorite chef Michael Solomonov, and what he uses in the hummus served at Dizengoff and Zahav.