@farmerman,
"Its an American continental thing. I think Canada and US appreciate the subtle flavors present in good smokes or sugar cured bacon. SALT is not overpowering as it is in Brit/Irish bacon......."
I side with you on the salt thing, fm.
In the mid 70's, when I was working with this stuff, British bacon didn't make up more than 10% of the market. We Brits ate Danish. The Danes produced (and still produce) tons of the stuff.
It was high end quality bacon, with subtle curing, traditional smoking and none of that water injection going on to make up the weight.
When carrying a 'side' from lorry (truck) to chiller, it didn't flop like a British or Irish side would have done, but almost stuck straight out, nearly as stiff as a board.
This is how bacon and ham used to be in Britain for hundreds of years. Pick up a traditional York ham (or Parma Ham if you're Osso and like a bit of Italian) and you'll notice that the outside is as hard as a bullet. All that curing and rubbing in of preservative (salt peter is or was used, I believe, among other rustic niceties) stops any unwanted microbes from entering into the body of the meat.
And so it was (still is, I hope) with Danish bacon. The rind (on smoked sides) was quite hard, and used to blunten (is that still a word?).....let's say dull.....the slicer blades in no time, but when that rasher fell off into the hand, the meat was perfect.
The green (unsmoked) sides were not so dry, as they hadn't been hung in a smoking shed, but again, there was not an overload of moisture inside.
If you're looking for the best bacon in Britain, you either get hold of 'artisan' bacon (farm shops, Harrods, top end delis etc) or go for smoked Danish.
The standard British/Irish/Euro mass produced fodder is bulked out with injected brine (makes it heavier) to within an inch of being illegal under our food laws, and the nearest thing it has seen that resembles a smoking shed is a 16 year old acne carrier with a flavour/spray tan gun.
I think farmerman had some good old Euro bacon when he went to Dublin, as this crap is reserved for tourists, supermarket shoppers on a budget, truckers who will eat anything and that portion of the population who walk round a shop and never ever care about what they are putting in their basket.
Smoked bacon always wins the day with me, but the sweeter cures are interesting, although rarely found here.
I will (or hope to) be touring Canadia within the next few years, and will no doubt taste every variety known to the locals whilst there. I'll maybe write a report here one day.
Hmmmmm..... possible thread title......
Rocky Bacon High?
