Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
I’ve noticed that Canadian bacon (aka back bacon, peameal bacon) receives a lot of flack on TFP (mentioning no names…gucci), and it always seems to boggle my mind.
Canadian bacon, or back bacon/peameal bacon, is essentially made from the same portion of the pig that traditional bacon is made from. The loin (i.e. the back) is the section of the pig from which much bacon is derived, but the sides may also be used. Regardless of the process, Canadian/back/peameal bacon is more akin to ham than conventional bacon due to its being a leaner cut. Conventional bacon has fat that is clearly visible and rather prominent throughout the cut, whereas back bacon looks much like ham. This distinction will explain the quite different flavor and texture differences between the two.
A common misconception surrounding Canadian bacon is that it is “Canada’s version of bacon.” This isn’t the entire picture. The two are rather different cuts of meat and should be treated as such. Conventional bacon can be left tender and fatty or it can be crisped up to varying, and even extreme, degrees. Canadian bacon, on the other hand, is meant to be cooked and left tender. Crispness may form around the edges, especially where peameal bacon is concerned, but the meat is meant to be more akin to ham. One way of describing Canadian bacon is: ham that tastes like bacon.
....What is confusing to this Canadian is why there is such a lashing-out from Americans regarding Canadian bacon. What is even more confusing is that this lashing-out, more often than not, is typically coming from self-proclaimed lovers of bacon. What is confusing, ultimately, is why a self-proclaimed lover of bacon would shun not a substitute for conventional bacon but rather a further exploration of the wider fantastic world of bacon.
I leave this question to you American bacon “lovers” who would criticize, shun, or otherwise disparage Canadian bacon:
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I don't dislike Canadian Bacon. If someone served it to me for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I would not go running from the room. But what I've had would be hard to distinguish from one of the many varieties of ham, which next to mutton
is probably my least favorite meat.
I think that some of it is in the name. Some folks like Cyn said, just don't consider it bacon even if they like it. I's not bacon to them.
My brother really likes that Greek meat sauce that they serve over pasta in Cincinnati, Ohio, but he will NEVER admit that it's chili. Or chilli, or chile.
I grew up on a farm/ranch where we did some of our own butchering, and even had a little smokehouse (about the size of a closet) where we smoke our own sausage, ham, fish, and the occasional whole or split turkey. I always assumed that Canadian Bacon was just cured/smoked pork tenderloin, because, well, that's what it looks like to me, and indeed, that's what it is. The loin is back meat, (fits right in with back bacon) from right along the hog's spine. The tenderloin is the "eye" of the loin, and when cured (nitrates and/or salt) and lightly smoked become what is called Canadian Style Bacon in the USA. American style bacon is from farther down the side, or from the belly of the hog. My GrandDad always called it smoked side.
As an aside, bacon American style is also not as bad for you as the numbers might indicate, because the USDA rules call for measuring/analyzing the whole piece of bacon. So, while the tables show an ounce of bacon having 12 grams of fat and 151 calories, most of that fat is rendered off, and drained rather than eaten, which cuts out about half of the fat.
In answer to your question B_G, love good bacon, but as others have said the really thin stuff is worthless. On the road the other day I had a Burger King Bacon Double Cheeseburger, and I swear, the paper wrapping the sandwich was thicker than the bacon.
Lindy
on the road in KCMO