Slab bacon

What it is: Most supermarket bacon is pre-sliced in thin strips and sealed in plastic. Slab bacon, on the other hand, is the same salt-cured side or belly of a pig, but the cut is left unsliced. Often measuring up to 1 foot across, the slab is a sight to behold. Whether you slice the strips from the slab yourself or have the butcher do it for you, the difference in taste is like that between California lettuce and a head from the farmers' market. Slab bacon can be smoked or not and many smoked varieties are prepared with smoldering applewood chips, lending the final product an aromatic quality. This unsliced bacon usually comes from the country's top purveyors, so the product is better quality. If you want strips of bacon to toss on a vinegary salad, slab works better than the pre-sliced kind.

How to use it: What isn't good with bacon? Eat it the traditional way, alongside eggs, or add a few slices to your favorite sandwich. Wrap uncooked slices around scallops or cheese-stuffed dates, secure with toothpicks, and cook them until crisp in a hot oven to make ``angels on horseback" or ``devils on horseback." Before roasting pork tenderloins or fresh trout, lay smoky slices on them. For a rich treat, render strips of bacon until they're golden and scatter them on a heaping bowl of pasta carbonara or sauteed green beans.

Where it's good: Any butcher worth his meat will have slab baconat the counter or be able to special order it on short notice. A. Russo& Sons in Watertown (617-923-1500) carries Niman Ranch ($7.98 per pound, below) and will cut it to order; they also offer prepacked slabs of Schaller & Weber bacon ($5.39 per pound). Formaggio Kitchen inCambridge (617-354-4750 ) and South End Formaggio (617-350-6996) have North Country Smokehouse brand ($7.98). Many Trader Joe's locations stock Niman Ranch dry-cured, applewood smoked slabs ($6.38 per pound). -- EMILY SCHWAB