Peameal bacon is a cut of unsmoked
bacon. It is made from centre-cut
pork loin, trimmed of fat, wet-cured in a salt-and-sugar brine and rolled in cornmeal. It can be sliced and cooked on a grill, griddled, or fried. Alternatively, it can be roasted, then sliced and served. The brining process makes it nearly impossible to overcook. Also, the low fat content keeps it juicy, and the cornmeal gives it a crispy edge. Cooked peameal bacon has a mild salty-sweet flavour and tastes more like fresh ham (when compared to smoked back bacon or side bacon). The cooked slices have been described as resembling small pork cutlets. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and served either as slices or an ingredient in a pork dish. The name 'peameal' comes from the dried yellow peas that were ground into meal and packed around the meat to preserve it in the Victorian era. This has since been replaced by
cornmeal, but the original name remains. Peameal bacon is rarely found outside of
Southern Ontario, and is often simply referred to as "back bacon". Similarly, a peameal bacon sandwich is often called "back bacon on a bun". Some Americans refer to peameal bacon as 'Canadian bacon'. However, '
Canadian-style bacon' or 'Canadian back bacon' are terms used by the U.S.-based
North American Meat Institute for an American style of smoked
back bacon. This may be sold in U.S. supermarkets as 'Canadian bacon', but is not Canadian. 'American bacon' is an American term for
side bacon, which is also known as streaky bacon. ==History==