By Porter Lang
Start with the cut. Peameal bacon is pork loin. Side bacon, the kind most people picture, is belly. That one difference explains why peameal looks like a pale, lean slice of ham with a yellow edge, not a strip of streaky red.
What it is
The Canadian Encyclopedia defines peameal bacon, also called cornmeal back bacon, as “a Canadian dish made of cured, but not smoked, pork loin coated in cornmeal.” It is cured in a wet brine of salt, sugar and spices, then rolled in cornmeal, which gives it what the entry calls a distinct yellow crust. The encyclopedia says it is found mainly in Ontario and eastern Canada. Flavour Network, a food site owned by a media company, gives the same outline: wet-cured loin from the back of the hog, trimmed of fat and coated in cornmeal.
Why “peameal” if it is cornmeal
Both sources say the name comes from peas. The encyclopedia says peas were dried, ground and used to coat meat as a preservative, and that cornmeal later replaced them once corn was available, while the name stayed. Flavour Network says the name comes from the original coating of crushed yellow peas. We found no source that gives a date for the switch.
Not Canadian bacon
Flavour Network is blunt. It says what Americans call Canadian bacon is a smoked back bacon that “isn’t Canadian at all.” The encyclopedia adds that British back bacon is traditionally dry-cured with salt and spices, while Canadian butchers chose wet curing, which cures faster and suited large-scale production. It says peameal has a milder, ham-like flavour.
Nutrition, as far as the sources go
The encyclopedia says peameal is leaner than side bacon and lower in sodium, but that its sodium level is still high. We give no figures because the entry gives none.
Hogtown and William Davies
The encyclopedia links peameal to Toronto’s old nickname, Hogtown, saying pork packed in the city was exported to England. It tells the story of William Davies, born in Wallingford, England, in 1831, who emigrated at 23 and in 1854 began selling food at East Market Square, now St. Lawrence Market. It says he sent his first shipment of cured pork to relatives in England in 1860, opened a plant in 1874, built a larger one near the Don River in 1879, and shipped unrefrigerated bacon to England. Joseph Flavelle took control after Davies’s sons died in 1891. In 1927 the company merged into Canada Packers, which became Maple Leaf Foods.
Flavour Network is more cautious. It says culinary historians cannot pin down a single origin, that pork has been cured in many ways for centuries, and that Toronto oral history credits Davies with inventing peameal, a story that has likely changed over time.
The sandwich as a Toronto emblem
The encyclopedia says that in 2016 the city declared the peameal bacon sandwich its signature dish. Flavour Network says peameal is hard to find outside Canada, which makes it popular with visitors to the market. Our reading: if you are hosting out-of-town guests over the holidays, a griddle breakfast is the simplest way to show them something local.
Dates in order
- 1831 (encyclopedia): Davies is born.
- 1854 (encyclopedia): he starts selling food at East Market Square.
- 1860 (encyclopedia): first shipment of cured pork to England.
- 1874 and 1879 (encyclopedia): plant openings.
- 1927 (encyclopedia): merger into Canada Packers.
- 2016 (encyclopedia): the sandwich is named Toronto’s signature dish.
What kind of sources these are
A national encyclopedia entry, published in 2026 and last edited that June, and a food site’s history piece published in 2022 and updated in 2024. The food site is a media company’s brand and mentions a bakery by name; treat that as promotional.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is peameal the same as back bacon? According to the encyclopedia, it is made from the loin, the same cut as back bacon, but wet-cured and cornmeal-coated rather than dry-cured and smoked.
What we left out
Prices, shop names beyond the one both sources mention, sodium figures, recipes and any claim about where to buy it. We name no living people.
Quick answers
What is peameal bacon? According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, it is cured, unsmoked pork loin coated in cornmeal, giving a yellow crust.
Why is it called peameal? Both the encyclopedia and Flavour Network say the name comes from an earlier coating of ground yellow peas, later replaced by cornmeal.
Is Canadian bacon the same thing? No. Flavour Network says Canadian bacon is a smoked American product, while peameal is unsmoked.
Related on this site: kingston-ontario-limestone-city-fortifications, newfoundland-trigger-mitts-vamps-wool-knitting, o-pee-chee-hockey-cards-london-ontario-history
Roam first. Shop later.