Photo: lilivanili and shawnzamYesterday I suggested that tastes may not be stable. And then last night, I had the chance to confront the data directly; my local restaurant was serving bacon ice cream.
Bacon: Delicious! Ice cream: My favorite! The combination of bacon and ice cream: a direct threat to my views of economics.
You see, every bite was awful. It wasn’t even really good bacon; it was cheap bacon bits scattered through the ice cream. But somehow, even though each mouthful was terrible, I couldn’t stop eating it.
It’s hard to match these repeatedly bad choices with our usual models of rational choice. You could say that my choices reveal a preference for bacon ice cream, but then that makes the theory of consumer choice a tautology.
My dinner colleague Tom Miles managed just one mouthful to satisfy his curiosity before reverting to his martini to wash away the bad taste. Yes, he’s a true Chicago economist, satisfying the usual axioms. (Tom did suggest that a side of chocolate ice cream with fried eggs might have yielded enough complementary flavors to make bacon ice cream work.)
Want to try this at home? Try this recipe. But my advice: Don’t.
I think red-beet ice cream sounds better.
and 
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The rational explanation to your actions can be found in dissonance theory.
Consider the bacon / ice cream / bacon-ice cream triad. You feel positive toward the bacon, and positive toward the ice cream, but negative toward the combination. This created dissonance, which you sought to alleviate by either a) hoping that the ice cream’s taste would grow on you; or b) convincing yourself that it actually did taste good. I’m guessing it’s (b) based on your comments (e.g., “It wasn’t even really good bacon; it was cheap bacon bits,” which might imply that if it were good bacon you would have liked the ice cream).
The desire to reduce dissonance is very natural. Thus, I believe it was very rational for you to keep eating the ice cream.
This reminds me of Heston Blumenthal’s Bacon and Egg ice cream :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D6CLoRuvGcY
But he flavours the ice cream with bits of bacon; he doesn’t include chunks. That does sound disgusting. But then again, Blumenthal seems like a culinary scientist; these guys sound like entrepreneurs with an eye for a press release.
As for the economics, I’m not sure it would necessarily be true that two ingredients (X and Y) which are preffered individually might not go well together as a bundle. This simplistic reasoning works for goods which are complements (good ‘ol shoes and socks) and substitutes, but not for complex decisions, such as tastes (which I would classify differently to preferences).
Tastes have typically evolved from social norms and necessities (the chickens cluck near the potatoes), and unless we are programmed (in an evolutionary sense) to enjoy these combinations, and these alone, I can see no reason why seemingly arbitrary combinations may not be appealing, at least in taste. How many people do you know who have a favourite sandwich which sounds unpalateable to you, but which they swear by?
You just had bad bacon ice cream. I’ve made the bacon ice cream you link to. As I was adding the bacon to the mixture I did worry it would be something better in theory than practice. But it did turn out to be one of those things that was as good in theory and practice. I could see where bad bacon would prevent that from happening.
However, I have had things I didn’t like but felt compelled to finish. I blame it more on my family’s compulsive eating habits than an actual preference for whatever I was eating.
Bacon ice cream is a central part of the “6 AM Special,” a dessert at Lola in Cleveland, which is one of the restaurants of Michael Symon, the newest Iron Chef on the Food Network. I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, but I’m sure a guy with a “Got pork?” tattoo knows how to do bacon ice cream the right way.
There’s a picture at this blog: http://tangbro1.blogspot.com/2008/10/lola-09152008.html
I love bacon. I love ice cream. I’ve has other savory ice creams before that I’ve liked – basil, cheese, tomato, salty caramel. I tried bacon ice cream at an excellent resto in Chicago on Randolph… and hated it. Hated every bite. I thought it was disgusting. I was so disappointed! But… I didn’t keep eating it! I gave it a traditional Girl Scout 3-bite try, and had to stop.
A perfect metaphor for addiction! You hate part of it, but like the good part enough to keep accepting that bad–ha!
I think what this world needs is VITAMIN ice cream. Eat it and live longer, happier, etc. Why can’t that be done? Why, for heaven’s sake, must it all be bad news when Ms. Blue Bell and I have an intimate encounter?
Consider an ice cream that, like Special K, offered 100% of daily recommended allowances for all important vitamins. In fact, throw enough B12 in there, and it actually makes you feel good.
Shoot, throw in some percocet and we have a new religion!
OK, I’ll come quietly now….
In addition to #2, are we to take it that Tom sampled your icecream? If so then this makes perfect sense as his icecream was free while yours carried a perceived value.
Do tell what Philly restaurant was this adventurous.