Bacon for Canajens, eh?

[ComputerGuy]

Typical in Canada is that almost all bacon is maple smoked. This does not mean it tastes like maple syrup; it means rather that the smoking wood is maple (think mesquite used to impart a smoky flavour to taco meat).

In my experience, most of the bacon around here is just not prepared properly before we get it at the butcher. Even Costco's idea of bacon leaves a lot to be desired. And local bacon shrivels up in weird ways; even a really good cooking surface provides a challenge for smooth cooking.

Be that as it may, it's still bacon. So I now purchase jars of Maple Smoke Flavouring/Seasoning spice by McCormicks at CostCo. Sprinkle that over your bacon when cooking, and you begin to approximate that taste you like so much back home.

[happyjillin]

I find the chunk bacon, which the butcher cuts to your liking, far superior to what i bought in Canada-eh! Note it goes bad faster here because it has less nitrites as preservative . I've been known to eat it "raw" piled on a slice of fresh bolillo because it's similar to a German cold cut that i used to enjoy. Not  almost all breakfast bacon in Canada is maple "flavoured".

[ComputerGuy]

Nobody said anything about Canadian bacon being maple flavoured. Maple smoked, maple cured. I thought I made that very clear.

Most of what I've seen around her at butchers that you call chunk bacon is cured pork belly. Too much fat for me, unless making heavily-fried Asian dishes to crisp it up. Of course, that's where bacon comes from anyway. If you buy yours at Tony's, you'll notice it's the same price as the bacon.

[happyjillin]

40 minutes ago, ComputerGuy said:

Nobody said anything about Canadian bacon being maple flavoured. Maple smoked, maple cured. I thought I made that very clear.

Most of what I've seen around her at butchers that you call chunk bacon is cured pork belly. Too much fat for me, unless making heavily-fried Asian dishes to crisp it up. Of course, that's where bacon comes from anyway. If you buy yours at Tony's, you'll notice it's the same price as the bacon.

I happen to be somebody and said in the written word that some bacon is maple flavoured.There are various ways that "some" bacon in Canada has maple "flavouring" including the 2 methods that you mention. I buy all my bacon from the butchers at the Chapala mercado or now the Ranchito Cremeria as well. I  never said anything about buying bacon at Tony's. All breakfast bacon is cured and lightly smoked pork belly and sometimes it has more fat than other times and sometimes not enough. If I don't like the looks of it I don't buy it but since I have a goodly choice of butchers in a small area,one of them will have what I want. I have no trouble frying the bacon that I select here in my 80 year old cast iron frying pan if fried is what i want.

 

[ComputerGuy]

You said, and I quote "Not  almost all breakfast bacon in Canada is maple "flavoured"." A seeming refutation of something I did not say.

But you know, thanks once again for taking a simple, friendly thread and turning it into an argument. At least I know I can count on you for that. Now, bug off and let me and my friends talk about bacon in Canada.

[ComputerGuy]

Following the lead of several users of this board, I returned to El Torre butcher in Chapala across the parking lot from Soriana, to get ground meat and bacon. Ground meat substantially better than the stuff Walmart is selling now.

But the bacon? What junk. Does no one here do anything more than cure the pig so it's not just dead pig? Flavourless, cooks oddly (fat doesn't render properly, meat is still not cooked after 15 minutes on slow). Even CostCo bacon is better, and that's not saying much.

I'm not blaming El Torre. It's the same tasteless stuff I've bought at every butcher around town. It's just the way they like it. But some restaurants here must get their bacon from different sources to please the expats.

[RVGRINGO]

We used to buy very good bacon at the mercado publico in Chapala, at the first butcher on the left, as you enter the front.  It was nicely smoked and we asked for it to be thick-sliced. It cooked properly and tasted wonderful.  It was always in the glass case, just around to the left.

[happyjillin]

5 minutes ago, RVGRINGO said:

We used to buy very good bacon at the mercado publico in Chapala, at the first butcher on the left, as you enter the front.  It was nicely smoked and we asked for it to be thick-sliced. It cooked properly and tasted wonderful.  It was always in the glass case, just around to the left.

All 3 butchers there sell good bacon. If it tastes good raw on bread you can bet it tastes good fried. Liver, bacon and onions with home fries,yum!

[Alpha1]

24 minutes ago, happyjillin said:

All 3 butchers there sell good bacon. If it tastes good raw on bread you can bet it tastes good fried. Liver, bacon and onions with home fries,yum!

The butcher in the far corner has great bacon, I ask for the "Legion Cut", nice and thick. My cast iron skillet makes it crispy and irresistible sizzling in all that bacon fat!