I have lived in the United States for almost thirteen years now, and “Canadian bacon” continues to perplex me. I grew up in Canada and yet had never heard of Canadian bacon until I moved to Vermont at the age of 23. I quickly learned that Canadian bacon is simply back bacon – bacon taken from the loin in the middle of the back of the divine swine, rather than from the belly. The fact that Americans have declared back bacon to be “Canadian” strikes me as very odd.
When you are a citizen of the Great White North living south of the 49th parallel, the mention of anything or anyone from the motherland is of fundamental interest. Canadians on the whole are known to be a somewhat quiet, modest, and self-deprecating people. This does not mean, however, that we are not proud of our citizenship. On the contrary, we are very passionate about Canada and our heritage. The thing is, Canadians generally pass un-noticed in the United States, unless we start talking about going ‘out and about’ or ask for ‘serviettes’ instead of napkins at the table, and I believe that living invisibly is why, when we discover something or someone “Canadian”, we immediately identify ourselves as the same and want to know more.
So, imagine my interest when I started culinary school to learn that there is a Canadian … bacon? Pardon me? Neither I, nor the other two Canadians at school had ever heard of such a thing. Why was it called Canadian? It started making a little more sense when I realized that Canadian bacon is back bacon – what Bob and Doug McKenzie, hosts of The Great White North, had been obsessed with for years. But could Americans really be that influenced by a pair of fictitious brothers hosting an SCTV skit?
Back bacon is very popular in Britain, but in Canada, however, I am challenged to find back bacon at all. Still, south of the border, back bacon continues to be called “Canadian”. It’s really quite confusing, for when grocery shopping in Canada, should you ask for “Canadian bacon”, you’ll be given peameal bacon. Peameal bacon is pork taken from the leanest portion of the loin, cured in sweet pickle and then rolled in cornmeal. It is sliced about a quarter of an inch thick and has approximately one eighth of an inch of fat around its perimeter. Its name, “peameal”, comes from the fact that it used to be rolled in a ground yellow pea mixture. It is really quite different from plain back bacon.
To add to the confusion, back bacon is also sometimes called “Irish bacon”. Rashers of Irish bacon and sausage are a main ingredient in a substantial Irish breakfast. I wonder, however, if the Irish know this? Perhaps they consider Irish bacon to be something altogether different to back bacon, as is the case in Canada.
There’s no confusion about Italian bacon, otherwise known as pancetta, however. The Italians established their bacon with certainty and no-one questions the origin of the bacon that is cured, not smoked and rolled into a log before being sliced.
So, what is the answer to why Americans call back bacon “Canadian”? Did they need to distinguish it from streaky bacon or slab bacon, and needed a scapegoat nation that wouldn’t complain about having its name used? Did they think that Canada was appropriate because as back bacon is a leaner version of bacon, they felt that Canada is a leaner version of the United States? Could it really have been Bob and Doug McKenzie’s cross-border influence? Perhaps it all started with a conversation between two American pig farmers that went something like this:
Pig Farmer #1: “What do we call that other bacon?”
Pig Farmer #2: “Which bacon?”
Pig Farmer #1: “The bacon that’s not from down here.” (points at pig’s stomach)
Pig Farmer #2: “Where’s it from then?” (not looking at Pig Farmer #1)
Pig Farmer #1: “From up there.” (points at pig’s back)
Pig Farmer #2: “From up there?” (not seeing where Pig Farmer #1 is pointing) “Canadian bacon?”
Pig Farmer #1: “Yeah, that must be it.”
Well, maybe. I’ve searched for the answer, but have come up with nothing. All I am left to conclude is that unless the pig is one of the 15 million swine born and raised in the Great White North, back bacon is not Canadian. It’s just from up there.