Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In 2014, Shane Harris learned about one of the most legendary cocktail-party appetizers in Washington, D.C.: Evangaline Bruce’s candied bacon. But Bruce ferociously guarded the recipe—and no one, not even former Vice President Dick Cheney, had come close to replicating it.
Join Harris, a staff writer for The Atlantic, as he cooks a batch of this fabled bacon—and shares the story of how he tracked down a recipe from a bygone era of Georgetown families who wielded outsize influence over American foreign policy.
“Behind the Byline” is a series from The Atlantic that lets you get to know the people behind our journalism.
Find all of Harris’s work: https://theatln.tc/m84WscIz
📸: Onyx Media / Archive Films / Getty; Rowland Scherman / Hulton Archive / Getty; Ernst Beadle / Conde Nast Collection / Getty; Ron Galella / Getty; Ernst Beadle / Conde Nast Collection / Getty; WWD / Penske Media / Getty; Justin Hoffman / Moment / Getty; PhotoQuest / Archive Photos / Getty; luliia Bondar / Moment / Getty; ClassicStock / Archive Photos / Getty; Connect Images / Brett Stevens / Getty; Westend61 / Getty; SarapulSar38 / Creatas Vidoe+ / Getty; Mixail59 / Creatas Video+ / Getty; MirageC / Moment / Getty; Ron Case / Hulton Archive / Getty; Mirrorpix / Getty; Edward Miller / Hulton Archive / Getty; Keystone-France / Gamma-Keystone / Getty; Jordan-Lye / Moment / Getty; Bettman / Getty; Diana Walker / Hulton Archive / Getty; Norman Posselt / fStop / Getty; image courtesy Shane Harris; Mina3 / Creatas Video+ / Getty; Mint Images / Getty.
In 2014, Shane Harris learned about one of the most legendary cocktail-party appetizers in Washington, D.C.: Evangaline Bruce’s candied bacon. But Bruce ferociously guarded the recipe—and no one, not even former Vice President Dick Cheney, had come close to replicating it.
Join Harris, a staff writer for The Atlantic, as he cooks a batch of this fabled bacon—and shares the story of how he tracked down a recipe from a bygone era of Georgetown families who wielded outsize influence over American foreign policy.
“Behind the Byline” is a series from The Atlantic that lets you get to know the people behind our journalism.
Find all of Harris’s work: https://theatln.tc/m84WscIz
📸: Onyx Media / Archive Films / Getty; Rowland Scherman / Hulton Archive / Getty; Ernst Beadle / Conde Nast Collection / Getty; Ron Galella / Getty; Ernst Beadle / Conde Nast Collection / Getty; WWD / Penske Media / Getty; Justin Hoffman / Moment / Getty; PhotoQuest / Archive Photos / Getty; luliia Bondar / Moment / Getty; ClassicStock / Archive Photos / Getty; Connect Images / Brett Stevens / Getty; Westend61 / Getty; SarapulSar38 / Creatas Vidoe+ / Getty; Mixail59 / Creatas Video+ / Getty; MirageC / Moment / Getty; Ron Case / Hulton Archive / Getty; Mirrorpix / Getty; Edward Miller / Hulton Archive / Getty; Keystone-France / Gamma-Keystone / Getty; Jordan-Lye / Moment / Getty; Bettman / Getty; Diana Walker / Hulton Archive / Getty; Norman Posselt / fStop / Getty; image courtesy Shane Harris; Mina3 / Creatas Video+ / Getty; Mint Images / Getty.
