What Canadians Actually Call Canadian Bacon

For the most part, Americans know that there is a significant difference between what we know as standard bacon and Canadian bacon. (It's a little more puzzling to determine whether Canadian bacon and ham are the same thing.) Although Canadian bacon is so named because it was created in the Great White North, Canadians don't refer to it as such. Instead, in Canada, this meat is simply called back bacon or rashers.

Canadian bacon comes from the back, or loin, of a pig and is both cured and smoked. This sets it apart from American bacon which is taken from the animal's belly section. The back loins are much leaner than the belly which is why Canadian bacon contains so little fat in comparison to American bacon. In the United Kingdom, back bacon is also very popular, however, it is cut a little differently than the Canadian-style back bacon. In the U.K., it is made from a combination of pork belly and pork loin, resulting in an almost perfect cross between the two North American bacons. (The fact it is cut from a different part of the animal is the main difference between American bacon and British bacon.)

Although Canadian bacon is the type of bacon most readily associated with Canada, there is another Canadian specialty called peameal bacon. This is very similar to back bacon in that it's taken from the same part of the pig, but it is not smoked. It isn't well known outside of Canada or even outside of Toronto, Ontario where it was created. Sold fully cooked, peameal bacon was originally finished by coating the outside of the cut with peameal to better preserve it. Today, you're more likely to find peameal bacon coated with cornmeal. (This gives the cooked bacon a crisp crust.) And, whereas back bacon is almost always sliced thinly, peameal bacon is occasionally roasted and served whole.

Canadians use both types of back bacon very similarly to the way Americans use Canadian bacon, that is, the meat is often layered with a poached egg (which you can easily make in the microwave) and hollandaise sauce to make eggs Benedict. Back bacon is also a great meat for making Hawaiian pizza.