New Zealand Bacon

I just returned from a vacation in New Zealand, including the
Milford Track.

One question. No, two.

What do they call what we in the US call "bacon"? What they
called bacon was not, nor was it exactly what we call
"Canadian Bacon", which is just ordinary ham made from the
tenderloin of the pig.

What part of the pig is what they call bacon? It looks
sort of like Canadian Bacon, but is a larger cut of meat
and the out parts are very fatty. Its clearly just ham by another name,
but what area of the animal?

Doug McDonald

On Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:21:59 -0600,
.. wrote:


Ham is just cured pork...


You might want to read the definition here, which disagrees with you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham

--
Ken Blake
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

What do they call what we in the US call "bacon"? What they
called bacon was not, nor was it exactly what we call
"Canadian Bacon", which is just ordinary ham made from the
tenderloin of the pig.

US bacon is from the pork belly.

NZ bacon is from the pork back (same as Australia, UK and Canada). So it is
Canadian bacon as you would call it. Any differences you saw might just be
the use of different breeds of pigs and/oror local preferences as to the
amount of fat left on for cooking and/or cooking style (NZ bacon won't be as
"crisped" as US bacon).

Kerry

On 1/7/08 2:04 PM, in article ,
. ."
.. wrote:

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 07:25:21 +1000, "Kerry Raymond"
wrote:

What do they call what we in the US call "bacon"? What they
called bacon was not, nor was it exactly what we call
"Canadian Bacon", which is just ordinary ham made from the
tenderloin of the pig.

US bacon is from the pork belly.

NZ bacon is from the pork back (same as Australia, UK and Canada). So it is
Canadian bacon as you would call it. Any differences you saw might just be
the use of different breeds of pigs and/oror local preferences as to the
amount of fat left on for cooking and/or cooking style (NZ bacon won't be as
"crisped" as US bacon).

Kerry


The last time I was home, I was dead set on making bacon & egg pie.
Alas, when I saw the bacon in the store, it was 'forget it'.
It was no longer the beautiful rasher 95+% bacon with little fat but
resemebled the US style bacon with more fat than meat.

Cath

That's interesting. When I was in Australia, I thought it looked like
English bacon. The part made from the loin being the lean portion that we
call back bacon here, and attached to it the fattier side portion like the
US. Called side bacon here. I found that in all three cities that I
nominally stayed in.

--
Martha Canada

It's probably worth adding that the world is becoming a much smaller place
and formerly "exotic" foodstuffs can now be purchased far from their point
of origin.

As an Australian, I remember my surprise when I first enountered mushy peas
in the UK. Now I can buy them in my local supermarket. Similarly muffins in
my childhood were nothing like the muffins of the USA, but now both kinds of
muffins are commonplace in Australia and we say "English" or "American" to
distinguish as needed. As kids, we used to laugh at how in the USA kids
apparently ate peanut-butter-and-jelly all from one jar; then it appeared in
our supermarkets too. And nobody even knew what a sushi was, now there is
sushi in every shopping centre. Even our own beloved Vegemite can be located
in many other countries, if only to service the needs of Aussie ex-pats.

While it is nice to have the best of the world's produce available in your
local supermarket, it makes eating while travelling somewhat less of an
adventure these days. So make the most of the "different" bacon while you
can!

Kerry

.. wrote:



www.nzpork.co.nz


Well, yes, "belly slices" describes bacon, but what do
people in New Zealand ask for if they need that for
a recipe? Pork belly slices? Smoked pork belly slices?

Doug McDonald

"Doug McDonald" wrote in message
...
.. wrote:



www.nzpork.co.nz


Well, yes, "belly slices" describes bacon, but what do
people in New Zealand ask for if they need that for
a recipe? Pork belly slices? Smoked pork belly slices?


"bacon"

The New Zealand bacon I recall was not like our back bacon. Not sure why
Americans call back bacon Canadian bacon. Our normal bacon is the rashers
just like the Americans and it can be fatty. The NZ stuff is better. The
back bacon is pink and round and small little fat but bigger price. Another
form of bacon we have is pea meal bacon.

Cheers from Canada


"Doug McDonald" wrote in message
...
I just returned from a vacation in New Zealand, including the
Milford Track.

One question. No, two.

What do they call what we in the US call "bacon"? What they
called bacon was not, nor was it exactly what we call
"Canadian Bacon", which is just ordinary ham made from the
tenderloin of the pig.

What part of the pig is what they call bacon? It looks
sort of like Canadian Bacon, but is a larger cut of meat
and the out parts are very fatty. Its clearly just ham by another name,
but what area of the animal?

Doug McDonald

On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:51:43 GMT, "cactusjoe"
wrote in z%ymj.9850$4w.6770@pd7urf2no :

The New Zealand bacon I recall was not like our back bacon. Not sure why
Americans call back bacon Canadian bacon. Our normal bacon is the rashers
just like the Americans and it can be fatty. The NZ stuff is better. The
back bacon is pink and round and small little fat but bigger price. Another

F
form of bacon we have is pea meal bacon.

Cheers from Canada


"Doug McDonald" wrote in message
...
I just returned from a vacation in New Zealand, including the
Milford Track.

One question. No, two.

What do they call what we in the US call "bacon"? What they
called bacon was not, nor was it exactly what we call
"Canadian Bacon", which is just ordinary ham made from the
tenderloin of the pig.

What part of the pig is what they call bacon? It looks
sort of like Canadian Bacon, but is a larger cut of meat
and the out parts are very fatty. Its clearly just ham by another name,
but what area of the animal?

Doug McDonald

OK, as a Yank who has butchered pigs will try to clarify what
part of the pig American bacon comes from.

First, have a look at the guide to pork cuts at the following
web site:

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/porkcuts.htm

On the drawing of the pig, area #4 is the "side" of the swine.
[image by: Minnesota pork board]

To quote their description:

4: Side: From it comes the following cuts: spareribs, bacon,
Pork belly, Pork spareribs St. Louis Style, Pork shoulder hocks
Pork leg (fresh ham) hocks.

So the bacon portion in the USA generally comes from the belly.
A more detailed drawing can be found at

http://www.sugarmountainhome.com/liv.../porkcuts.html

On this drawing, see area " 7: Spareribs, salt pork, bacon.

"Bacon, of course, comes from the belly. "

The slab of bacon is then cured by packing it in a curing
mixture. One old mixture is 8 pounds of salt [Sodium chloride,
NaCl] 3 pounds of brown sugar, 3 ounces of saltpeter [potassium
nitrate, KNO3]. This is a dry salt cure, bacon slab buried in it
for a few days. (Time period varies)

Most bacon is smoked as well, hanging on hooks for 2 or 3 days or
longer in a smoke house. Hardwood sawdust is heated on a pan
over temperature controlled electric heater. Maple and oak, from
memory, don't use pine from conifers unless want a very odd
taste!

This sterilizes the meat and imparts the desired smoky flavor.

Actually, can be smoked longer for better flavor, and to render
out excess fat, to the point where refrigeration is not required
for storage.

This, of course, is the old, traditional method. These days it
could be just sprayed with a smoke flavor. :-) Takes less
time.

To quote a bit from Wikipedia article on bacon:

"A side of unsliced bacon is a flitch or slab bacon, while an
individual slice of bacon is a rasher (United Kingdom, Republic
of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) or simply a slice or strip
(North America). Slices of bacon are also known as collops.
Traditionally, the skin is left on the cut and is known as bacon
rind. Rindless bacon, however, is quite common. In the United
Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, bacon comes in a wide variety of
cuts and flavours. In the United States ordinary bacon is only
made from the pork belly, yielding what is known in Britain as
"streaky bacon", or "streaky rashers". In Britain bacon made from
the meat on the back of the pig is referred to as back bacon and
is part of traditional British and Irish breakfasts. In the
United States, back bacon is called Canadian-style Bacon or
Canadian Bacon.[1]

The USDA defines bacon as "the cured belly of a swine carcass,"
while other cuts and characteristics must be separately qualified
(e.g. "smoked pork loin bacon").[2] "USDA Certified" bacon means
that it has been treated for trichinella.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon

In passing, a large meat company in the US used to advertise that
the only part of the hog they didn't use was the squeal.:-)

Regards,
ple
9:19 PM Saturday 26/Jan/08
Australia Day Holiday!
[GMT + 11 hrs]

And then there is whole hog pork sausage.
Never saw it in a shop, but bought it from
slaugherhouse.

Dick