Stevie Wonder's Chef Found A Way To Add Bacon Flavor To His Meals, No Meat Needed

In case you were ever wondering, there's a scientific reason why bacon tastes good with everything. So it's really no wonder that stars and the everyday home chef alike might find joy in discovering new ways to enliven dishes with the trusty help of bacon. When it comes to the multi-award winning and chart-topping musician Stevie Wonder in particular, he is known not to hold back on sharing his foodie dislikes (he once told his private chef to never again make one particular veggie food, pickled watermelon radishes). But there are certain foods that really impress his tastebuds, and bacon makes the list. However, Wonder became a vegan sometime around 2013 or 2014 (and has been public about his decision), so meat-based bacon was a no-go. So in 2015, his personal tour chef, Makini Howell, found a way to mimic the taste of bacon without actually using the meat. She did so by using smoked tofu and a vinaigrette as the next best thing for bacon flavoring.

In an interview with Milk Street, the vegan chef mentioned that she had a specific protocol for replicating the flavor of bacon with plant-based ingredients for the singer. She would smoke some tofu and pair it with a vinaigrette made from vinegar, stone ground mustard, and fresh herbs. Howell mentioned that being on tour and cooking for one person daily helped her become more creative in making dishes that had variety but were still satisfying and "hit the spot".

While you might've heard about swapping in a protein-packed tempeh in place of bacon for your breakfast or even turning tofu into deli meat for your next sub, Makini Howell's bacon replacement brings in a special smoky element that is worth trying out. To achieve the smokiness, it's best to make use of ingredients like smoked paprika for a natural and gentle kick of heat. This can be used to season the tofu as well as stirred into the vinaigrette. It's also possible to add in liquid smoke if you'd like to boost the smoky element. Tofu can be notoriously bland if not seasoned and marinated well so purchasing a pre-smoked tofu will guarantee the smoky taste profile.

The vinaigrette dressing benefits from simplicity, which means you can fine tune it without much complication. Howell's recipe calls for vinegar, which adds a sharp acidic nature to the dressing, while the stone ground mustard adds a coarse texture, more acidity, and potent earthy flavor. While Howell doesn't disclose the exact herbs used to make Stevie Wonder's dish, her own brand, Makini's, has a smoked tofu which includes tamari sauce and chili flakes. These could bring heat and umami flavors to the dish. Experimenting with the combination to make the plant-based bacon with vinaigrette appealing to your preference might mean loading up on other ingredients. For more sweetness you can consider adding in maple syrup, and if you're interested in bringing out more saltiness and rich savory notes, then soy sauce will be worth adding to the mix. You can then use this as a bacon replacement in your BLT or add it to any dish for vegan-friendly bacon flavors.