DCHP-2

peameal bacon pea-meal bacon, peameal DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Food, especially Ontario and Eastern Canada

  a type of bacon generally rolled in cornmeal (see Image 1).

  Type: 5. Frequency — The term peameal bacon describes a type of cured bacon (see back bacon) that is usually rolled in cornmeal and served in slices (see the 1930 quotation). Note that although cornmeal (versus peameal) is the more common coating, the term peameal bacon is seen to derive "from the practice of coating cured meats in a meal of ground dried peas" (see COD-2, s.v. "peameal bacon") and is thus a linguistic preservation of older use. Peameal bacon appears to have sustained considerable popularity as a breakfast food throughout the 20th century (see the 1894 & 2003 quotations). Peameal bacon occurs most frequently in Canada (see Chart 1), particularly in Ontario, followed by Prince Edward Island (see Chart 2). The process is said to have been invented, or more likely, popularized, by William Davies, whose Toronto pig production factory was the largest in the British Empire, thus giving the city the nickname of "Hogtown". The regional distribution coincides with Davies' Ontario base, giving some credibility to the origin scenario.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "peameal bacon", which is marked as "Cdn", OED-3, s.v. "pea meal" (2), which is marked "N.Amer. (now Canad.)".

  See also: Hogtown  back bacon  side bacon