A chance conversation inspired me to cure Canadian peameal bacon at home, from scratch.
Raj Sabharwal, a wine and spirits importer, sat next to me at brunch one Sunday last month. Between bites and courses, he told me that he’d lived in 20 cities in five countries. That he spent most of his growing up in Toronto. That he likes to cook for himself and his wife, Maddie, in their Lawrenceville kitchen. That he often makes Canadian peameal bacon, a regional specialty of Toronto.
You may be familiar with it if you’ve ever visited Toronto and had the iconic dish of the St. Lawrence Market, peameal bacon sandwiches. Or if you planned ahead, bought a couple of peameal roasts and packed them in a cooler for the drive home.
While peameal bacon is pretty much unknown “down here,” “up there” it is about the equivalent of pastrami in Manhattan or cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Canadians and Americans who live near the border are passionate about this bacon. And as is true for grits in the South, peameal bacon can carry big emotional attachments.
“Raj, will you share your recipe and tell me how to do it?” I begged. But before I could lift a pencil, he sorted out the confusing terminology.
First of all, dear reader, what you may know as Canadian bacon here in the States, isn’t.
“Canadian bacon” as sold in U.S. supermarkets is an invented American pork product. Made from a whole pork loin, it is brined, smoked, pre-sliced and pre-packaged as a breakfast meat. The key word here is smoked.
Canadian bacon sold in Canada is known as peameal bacon. Peameal bacon, also made from a whole pork loin and brined, is rolled in golden cornmeal and sold whole and uncooked. Key words here are “brined,” “uncooked” and “peameal.”
Except it’s not peameal. The peameal moniker derives from the dried yellow peas that originally were ground into meal and packed around the meat to preserve it. After World War I, when cornmeal became more plentiful and practical, processors switched over. But the original name stuck.
Bottom line: The biggest difference between American Canadian bacon and Canadian peameal bacon is a matter of smoking; both bacons are cured, but the American kind is also then smoked, which gives it a flavor closer to what we would normally call ham. Canadian peameal bacon has a light, salty-sweet flavor without the smokiness, so it ends up tasting more like fresh ham when cooked.
And it’s a terrific project for the home cook.
In the kitchen
“You will need to purchase brining salt,” says Mr. Sabharwal. “It goes by several names: Prague Powder No. 1 Cure or pink salt.” The tinted colored salt is a critical component in the meat curing process. No, it’s not generally available in supermarkets. Order it online at Spice Jungle: spicejungle.com.
“Buy a piece of pork loin, about 2 to 4 pounds, and have the butcher trim any visible silverskin off it,” Mr. Sabharwal says. “Ask him to trim any excess fat on top down to about a 1/8- to 1/4-inch layer. If the pork loin is really long, cut it in half. Make the brine by combining the water and other ingredients (except for the cornmeal) together in a medium pot. Cool it, add and submerge the pork, and let it brine in the refrigerator for three to five days. Hands-on time is really negligible.”
After the pork is brined, there are finishing options.
“For peameal bacon, roll the loin in a signature coating of cornmeal, then cut into slices for cooking,” he says. “Some people like to roast the whole loin. When you grill or fry it up, you’ll want slices to get a bit burnt on the fatty edges when the maple syrup in the brine caramelizes towards the end.”
Anytime eatin’
Do we really need to tell you what to do with this marvel of meat?
• Breakfast. Brown up a couple of slices on a griddle or a fry pan, then fry an egg and enjoy with toast and jam. Serve griddled slices with pancakes or waffles. Make a breakfast sammy with peameal bacon and a runny egg on a cheddar biscuit. Tuck a slice or two on top of a toasted English muffin along with a poached egg and Hollandaise for a classic eggs Benedict.
• Lunch. Make a Canadian bacon burger: Pile three slices of griddled peameal bacon on half a toasted kaiser roll. Top with a slice of red onion, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato and top half of the roll. If you have some, add a few slices or Canadian cheddar. Drink with a Canadian ale.
• Supper. Roast a good-size piece of the pork in a 350-degree oven for an hour or so, or until it has a core temperature of 142 degrees, then slice and serve. For the end pieces, dice and add to lentil soup, mac-and-cheese, Cobb salad. You get the idea.
And if about now you are jonesing for some, but don’t want to make it yourself, you have a local buying option. Freshly brined, uncooked peameal bacon, as well as smoked Canadian bacon, are the latest additions to the meat cases at Marty’s Market at 2301 Smallman St. in the Strip District.
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Canadian Peameal Bacon
PG tested
Once you find how easy it is to make at home, you’ll never buy stateside-supermarket Canadian bacon again. Some of the brine can be injected into the meat at 4 or 5 places, if desired. Enjoy slices cooked on the grill (that’s the traditional Canadian way), griddled or cooked in a frying pan.
2- to 4-pound pork loin, preferably organic, trimmed but leaving 1/8-inch fat cap
For the Brine:
4 cups water
1 cup real maple syrup
1 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons Prague Powder No. 1 Cure or pink salt
3 teaspoons slightly crushed peppercorns
5 cloves garlic, crushed slightly
4 bay leaves (optional)
For the coating:
Coarse ground cornmeal
Have the butcher trim any visible silverskin off the pork loin, and trim any excess fat on it down to about a 1/8- to 1/4-inch layer. If the pork loin is really long, cut it in half.
Make the brine by combining the water and remaining ingredients (except for the cornmeal) together in a medium pot. Place over medium heat and whisk until salts and brown sugar are dissolved. Allow to cool.
Place a resealable plastic bag in a tall container (I use a 5-quart, 8-inch diameter stock pot). Place the loin pieces in the bag, standing them on end, if you can. Pour the cold brine over the meat to cover. If needed, add cold water to the brine to ensure the pork loin is immersed. Pressing out as much air as possible, zip-seal the bag. If the meat wants to rise, weight it down. I place a pint jar filled with water, which sinks them. The meat must be fully immersed in the brine.
Refrigerate, pot and all, for 3½ to 5 days, depending on the thickness of the loin. Remove the pork loin from the brine and rinse, then pat dry. Roll the meat in a dish of cornmeal, pressing it in until a nice, even layer sticks.
To make slicing easiest, wrap the peameal bacon in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then put it in the freezer until firm, but not frozen, about 1 hour. Return the bacon to a board and slice to whatever thickness you prefer. Aim for thickish slices, about 1/4-inch each.
Refrigerate the bacon until ready to cut and serve, or freeze as follows: Fan 4 or 5 slices on a piece of plastic wrap and make a tight package. Put several packages in a plastic bag and freeze. Take out a pack at a time as needed.
To cook: Snip the fat in a few places so the bacon doesn’t curl, then pan-fry in a heated skillet along with a little oil, just a few minutes a side. You know when it’s ready when the fat is brown and sizzling, and the meat is pink.
-- Raj Sabharwal
First Published: April 15, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
