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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.
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.
Drafted with rumaki and cocktail-party context from Food52 (https://food52.com/story/5573-the-elegant-hors-d-oeuvre-s-bacon-wrapped-water-chestnuts), additional rumaki origin discussion from Jennuine Blog (https://www.jennuineblog.com/2013/10/our-favorite-kid-friendly-appetizer.html), and modern method references from Simple Joy (https://www.simplejoy.com/bacon-wrapped-water-chestnuts/).
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