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America's Melting Pot
Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts hero image coming soon
1946-1969 - Midcentury cocktail-party hosts adapting rumaki-style appetizers
Crunchy water chestnuts wrapped in bacon, baked until crisp, and glazed with a brown sugar, soy, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.
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Difficulty
Easy
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
40 minutes
Total time
1 hour
Servings
24 pieces
Region
American cocktail parties and suburban appetizers
Era introduced
1946-1969
Introduced by
Midcentury cocktail-party hosts adapting rumaki-style appetizers
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Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts are part of the midcentury American cocktail-party table: toothpicks, sweet-savory glaze, and a nod to rumaki, the tiki-era appetizer often linked to Don the Beachcomber-style restaurants. Canned water chestnuts made the bite easy for suburban hosts, while bacon made it familiar. This version skips chicken liver and keeps the party-tray favorite many families remember from the 1960s and 1970s.
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