The Juicy, Lean Bacon Cut You Can Only Find In Canada

Almost everyone loves bacon. The salty, crisp, and flavorful cut of pork is a great addition to many recipes and is so good to munch on its own for breakfast or brunch. There are quite a few types of bacon, per Food Network: cured, uncured, smoked, slab, and pancetta, which is an Italian cured version made from pork belly. And guanciale, made from pork jowl or cheeks, is another type of bacon from Italy. 

Then there's Canadian bacon, which is a round lean type cut from the pork loin, which the USDA calls "back bacon" because it comes from the back of the pig, per MasterClass. In America, it's sold ready-to-eat and used for breakfast and in many recipes, including the loved or hated pineapple pizza, according to Martha Stewart.

The thing is, American-style Canadian bacon isn't really from Canada. That country in the far north has the original version of "Canadian" bacon which is different in several ways. It's juicy, tender, flavorful, and perfect for breakfast. What is this delicious bacon that you can only find in Canada? And how is it different?

What Americans think of as Canadian bacon is called peameal bacon in Canada, which is also cut from the pork loin. The slabs of pork are often rolled in cornmeal or peameal (crushed yellow peas after they are prepared, per Food Network), to extend the shelf-life of the product, according to the USDA.

Peameal bacon is prepared differently from Canadian bacon. While American-style Canadian bacon is often smoked or cured, peameal bacon is wet-cured, according to the USDA. This is the same process that is used to make hams; meats are injected with a brining or curing solution, or the pork loin may be submerged in brine for as long as a week, according to Home Gourmet. In addition, peameal bacon is always sold uncooked and can be fried, baked, or cooked on the grill. 

Peameal bacon is popular in certain parts of the country, most notably southern Ontario, especially Toronto, where it's piled on toasted bread to make fantastic peameal sandwiches, according to Taste Toronto. You'll see it on menus in various recipes, and it is also sold in grocery stores.

Of course, you can only get a real peameal bacon sandwich in Canada; it's served on a soft roll, perhaps with some mustard or melted cheese. It's difficult, if not impossible, to find real peameal bacon for sale in the United States, although you can order a frozen slab or two of it from North Country Smokehouse or Ontario's own Brooker's Natural Meats. Just remember that you have to cook it before you can eat it! If you can get peameal, have a taste test with the two versions.

If you can't get peameal bacon, you can use Canadian bacon in recipes (but do try to get the real thing). You can add this bacon to a grilled cheese sandwich, use it in spaghetti carbonara in place of bacon or pancetta, or some recipes including egg, Canadian bacon and cheese muffin, skillet green beans and mushrooms with frizzled Canadian bacon, classic eggs Benedict, or a meal-in-one breakfast bread bowl.