Talk:Macon (food)

Beef?
Macon is a bacon substitute. In Halaal pizza places I have been in in South Africa, you find only macon. It seems to have been invented (according to a throwaway remark in Time Magazine by Frederick Alexander MacQuisten). Wikipedia has him proposing it when war-time rationing loomed. I am struggling to find refs beyond these two, however. Halfsnail (talk) 11:39, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I created this entry because it was offered at Debonair's Pizza in Johannesburg, South Africa. Curious as to what it might be, I asked Google -- and had no joy. My colleague offered that it is made from beef -- and I created the Wikipedia article as a result. It's slightly disappointing that the beef reference has now been omitted -- but in the absence of proof to the contrary, I must let it stand. Burisch (talk) 23:39, 4 October 2008 (CAT)


 * Most references say that "Macon" refers to a bacon substitute made out of sheep instead of pigs, but there are a few places I found where "Macon" refers to a bacon substitute made out of cows, but none of them meet Wikipedia's standards for reliable sources.


 * http://www.koshereye.com/meat/2925-breakfast-muffin-macon-pots.html (Also see http://jacksgourmetkosher.com/Facon/Facon-p49.html)


 * http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/macon-muffins/


 * Also, I found some complaints about a South African advertisement for Beef Macon:


 * http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2014/04/30/steers-told-using-beef-for-fake-bacon-macon-is-fakin


 * http://citizen.co.za/168227/macon-burger-advert-violates-beliefs-complaint/


 * http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/steers-in-faking-macon-complaint-1.1682227


 * It appears that some South Africans think that Macon is a product made from mutton or soya, while others think that it is made from mutton, soya, or beef. This is important for Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Vegans trying to maintain dietary restrictions. --Guy Macon (talk) 14:55, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Beef Macon?
Re: this edit:

The following websites sell Beef Macon:

Here is a news report

In it a Hindu woman claimed that macon is a product made from mutton or soya to substitute for beef or pork. The restaurant disagreed, but solved the problem by calling it "beef macon" instead of just "macon". Not sure what she did about the beef patty; perhaps she special ordered a macon burger with a substitute for the beef patty?

However, there are multiple sources such as that claim that macon is made from any halaal animal, including cows, and some vendors sell kosher beef macon, which means that a rabbi certified that it is kosher. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:40, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Seems it may be a regionalism, then, as the overwhelming number of those sources are South African. Then again, it also seems that a lot of them are receding to complaints that the term is assumed to mean mutton and the beef version shouldn't be called "Macon", so it stands to reason that we shouldn't be clouding the issue.
 * Maybe that's worth a mention, but I don't think calling beef bacon (which is more like corned beef made from the cut of beef analogous to side of pork belly used for streaky bacon) "macon" is a universal use, and certainly not in line with the Scottish origin of the term, let alone for veggie bacon made from soy(a). Indeed, every British source I've found uses it for the mutton version only.
 * The US is no help one way or the other, as mutton, let alone cured mutton, is not all that common here, and bacon substitutes are always revered to as "something bacon", such as beef bacon, turkey bacon or vegetarian bacon (soy, mostly).
 * Searching for usage is actually rather difficult, too, because of the Macon Bacon collegiate summer baseball team from Georgia. That's why I've had to retype this response three times, starting in the previous section! oknazevad (talk) 23:40, 1 November 2018 (UTC)


 * The term "beef macon" certainly exists, and meats labled "beef macon" are indeed widely available in halaal and kosher butcher shops. There is no rule saying that the term must be used in Scotland or the US. The English Wikipedia is for English speakers worldwide, including South Africa.


 * Compare our article on Bacon which says "Meat from other animals, such as beef, lamb, chicken, goat, or turkey, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to as 'bacon.' Such use is common in areas with significant Jewish and Muslim populations, both of which prohibit the consumption of pork" The term "Beef Macon" is also commonly used by Jewish and Muslim populations.


 * Please stop edit warring and leave the article the way it was until this is resolved. See WP:STATUSQUO. --Guy Macon (talk) 18:02, 3 November 2018 (UTC)
 * none of that addresses the point that it appears to be a South-Africa-specific usage, though, and that elsewhere the beef version is known as "beef bacon", just as one says turkey bacon or vegetarian bacon or such. I'd also like to not that ted reference used in the first sentence says nothing about beef, just mutton, so adding beef to that sentence without a separate reference is plainly incorrect. I moved mention of beef and gave its SA-specific context at the end of the lead paragraph, using the news sourced linked in this discussion as a reference. oknazevad (talk) 13:33, 4 November 2018 (UTC)