Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Tech Style & Beauty Kitchen & Dining Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeCultureDiet & FitnessEating & DrinkingKitchen & DiningCanadian bacon sits high on the global culinary hogIn the 1860s and after, Canada was where back bacon — delicious, lean, cured but not smoked pork end loin coated in peameal — came from.Last updated 20 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Firmer than ham and sweeter than the cut most of us serve with eggs, Canadian bacon can be served as-is or cooked, is a key element of a classic eggs Benedict, and is at home in a stir fry as it is in a quiche, or alongside roasted vegetables. Photo by bhofack2 /Getty Images/iStockphotoReviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.Any way you cut it, Canadian bacon is a source of national pride with roots as deep as the country itself.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorSo why isn’t that what we call it?In the 1860s and after, Canada was where back bacon — delicious, lean, cured but not smoked pork end loin coated in peameal — came from. It’s why Toronto’s nickname is Hogtown, and why in 2016 the peameal bacon sandwich beat out such culinary titans as Jamaican patties, street meat and burritos to become the city’s signature dish.After setting up shop in what would become St. Lawrence Market in 1854, pork producer William Davies started sending the cured meat, coated in protective peameal, back to his family and then to customers in England in 1860, where the industrial boom was fuelling demand for preserved foods. Join Laura Brehaut on a weekly food adventure with mouth-watering reads delivered Fridays.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Cook This will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“Canadian bacon” became immensely popular. The home of what Davies dubbed the largest pork producer in the British Empire became synonymous with a central product of a thrumming export economy (led by pork and beef, meat and meat preparations are to this day among Canada’s highest value agro-food exports, according to The Canadian Encycopedia).Davies’s operation near the Don River was the oldest part of what would become Canada Packers, parts of which in turn exist in Maple Leaf Foods.Firmer than ham and sweeter than the cut most of us serve with eggs, Canadian bacon can be served as-is or cooked, is a key element of a classic eggs Benedict, and is at home in a stir fry as it is in a quiche, or alongside roasted vegetables. It’s also rumoured there is a segment of the population that puts it on pizza — with pineapple.The eponymous sandwich’s origins are also back at the St. Lawrence Market, where the Carosel Bakery was bought by Elso Biancolin and Joseph Homer in 1969. As the story goes, Biancolin noticed at the butcher they also owned that customers were passing over the end cuts of the pork loin in favour of the centre. To avoid waste, he started slicing and frying the as-yet underappreciated peameal bacon and, according to a 2017 TVO article, serving it on a Kaiser bun.It became a staple at their stall in the market, now served on a Portuguese country roll swapped in during a supply interruption, then kept: “People liked it so much that that’s what we stuck with,” Biancolin says in the article. “It has the right body: it’s not too light, it’s not too heavy, so it complements the whole experience when you chew on the meat and the bread together.”Peameal bacon’s status as a regional delicacy may be concentrated in southern Ontario and points east, but there’s no denying its place in this country’s culinary history and as the reason when Americans, Brits and the Irish call one of the tastiest preparations of pork “Canadian.” Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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