The B Factor

Stottie cake or white bread? Brown sauce or ketchup? Butter or margarine? On its own or accompanied by an egg?

It seems everyone has an opinion on what makes the perfect bacon sandwich. Now's your chance to tell the world as the hunt officially gets under way today to sniff out the North East's best bacon sarnie. EAT! NewcastleGateshead has joined forces with The Journal to track down a bacon butty worthy of setting the region's collective taste buds watering - and carry on a long and illustrious North East tradition, for it seems Northerners have been starting off the day the bacon way for at least 2,000 years.

The smell of sizzling lardum would have been a familiar wake-up call for Roman soldiers stationed on Hadrian's Wall. But there is evidence that long before the Emperor Claudius's troops finally conquered Britain in AD 43, that the Celts were also crazy about rashers. It's almost certain that the argument over what makes the perfect bacon butty has been raging just as long.

But the time has come to lay the disagreement to rest, and this is your chance to vote for what you think is the best bacon butty in the region. Nominations are open from 1 to 21 April before our panel of expert judges (great job!) make the final difficult decision. The winning individual, restaurant or café will be announced on 1 May 2009 and featured in EAT! events. Remember, bonus points will be given to those who use locally sourced ingredients.

Nominate your favourite bacon butty at the Journal Live website!