It is often said that bacon is the meat that will tempt vegetarians to follow the carnivorous path back to sal(i)vation. And this is the week to do it.

But some two thirds of the bacon sold in Australia is made from imported, subsidised pork. That equates to over 2.9 million kilograms of foreign pig meat – $9.9 million worth – arriving in Australia every week destined for processing into smallgoods like bacon. Australian Bacon Week is an initiative to highlight the pink square PorkMark label – the only guaranteed way consumers can choose 100 per cent pure home grown Australian bacon.

Australia’s Best Bacon, as well as other national and state winners will be officially announced at a breakfast function in Sydney on Monday 13 May. Celebrity chef Colin Fassnidge will host the event at his restaurant, 4Fourteen.

Australia’s most decadent bacon and egg roll will be unveiled at that breakfast. During Australian Bacon Week Colin Fassnidge will be featuring what is arguably Australia’s most decadent bacon and egg roll on his menu at 4Fourteen and a more modest version at all three of his restaurants: 4Fourteen, 4inhand and Paddington Arms.

Exactly what’s in Australia’s most expensive bacon and egg roll? It will boast the award-winning Australian bacon, duck egg cooked in truffle butter, roasted foie gras, 18-month cave-aged cheddar, shaved truffle, semi dried smoked gourmet truss tomato with a crème fraîche and caviar dressing, served on a brioche bun.

Australian Pork Limited (APL) is issuing a challenge to Australia’s chefs to create their own version of the most decadent bacon and egg roll to match the Fassnidge masterpiece.

Already responses to the challenge have come from gun chefs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide (click below for details of Aussie Bacon & Egg Roll – Bacon Week decadence).

Throughout Australian Bacon Week various butchers and supermarkets around the country will also be promoting PorkMark labeled Australian bacon.

Currently, there are 384 butchers and smallgoods producers licensed to champion the PorkMark on their products. Since the inception of Australian Bacon Week in 2010, the number of licensees nationwide has continued to grow, reflecting the growing push from the Australian public to identify and buy local Australian grown produce.

The National Bacon Awards for Excellence judging panel comprised fleishmeister Horst Schurger, who has a Master’s degree in Butchering and Smallgoods from the Master College in Mönchengladbach Germany and two chefs, Paul McDonald and Simon Bestley. Between them, McDonald and Bestley have broad international experience working in Michelin starred restaurants, cruise liners and premier teaching institutions.

And the national winners are...

Steve Chapman from Slade Point Meat Specialists in Mackay, Queensland, won the overall prize for Australia’s best full rasher bacon, with a record score of 293 out of 300. The judges described this bacon as being perfectly presented, displaying a great smokey colour, excellent aroma, with a wood smoke flavour, very good lean to fat ratio resulting in minimal shrinkage. One judge exclaimed, "This bacon is simply awesome!"

Mark Stapleton from Stapletons Meats in Gymea, NSW, took out the number one spot for the nation’s best short cut bacon. The judges described his entry as "Excellent looking bacon with a fantastic aroma, minimal shrinkage with a well balanced flavour and aftertaste."