The ad is interesting to me because of the prominence of the listing of Canadian Bacon. You don't see it very often these days in the deli section of grocery stores. I used to buy it at Apples but suddenly they just didn't carry it any more. I think it was just too expensive and it wasn't something that many people bought. Mom used to buy it every once in a while when I was a kid so I like it.
What is Canadian Bacon anyway? Well, for one thing, it's an Americanized version of what Canadians call back bacon. As its Wiki entry describes it, "Canadian bacon (or Canadian-style bacon) is the term commonly used in the United States for a form of back bacon that is cured, smoked and fully cooked, trimmed into cylindrical medallions, and sliced thick."
Back bacon is pork loin from the back of the pig – thus the name. But in Canada, they don't call it Canadian Bacon. It's just back bacon. It seems to be sold as both uncooked slices (that resemble thin, boneless pork chops) or prepackaged slices that just need to be heated up.
Peameal bacon is another form of back bacon, but cured rather than smoked. It's sold uncooked, either as a roast or in prepackaged slices. It's rolled in cornmeal so it's yellowish on the edges. But it is absolutely fantastic as a sandwich – tender, juicy and a little tangy thanks to the brine. The peameal bacon sandwich is the signature dish of Toronto.
Bob and Doug McKenzie were always frying up back bacon on the Great White North segment of SCTV, eh?
Over the years, I've brought home many packages of peameal bacon as my souvenir of Canada. I had so much of it in a cooler on one return visit that the border crossing guard asked me if I just go to Canada to buy groceries. I guess maybe I do.
Believe it or not, they used to carry peameal bacon at Heinen's and it was the real thing. But they stopped carrying it and replaced it with their own Canadian Bacon product. I guess it's because most Americans have never heard of peameal bacon.
So I'm due for a trip to Windsor to stock up, maybe this summer. But until then, I buy Canadian Bacon regularly at Meijer. Here's what the package looks like. It's pretty healthy fare.
