"A Back-Bacon Bonanza" or Pea(c)-Meal Diplomacy

"I even like the name Bacon. You can’t tell me the success of Kevin Bacon isn’t somehow tied to his name. You’re not going out to see a Kevin Hot Dog movie. ‘Who’s in this movie?’ ‘Kevin Bacon.’ ‘Sounds good.’ "– Jim Gaffigan


This post represents the culmination of months of soul-searching, introspection, and a brief course in “Sandwiches and Related Geometries” and even required some help from Canwiches’ loyal cadre of Sandwich fanatics.

A quick note from the grammatical board here at Canwiches. Since we here at Canwiches consider the subject matter of this blog to be a proper noun, Sandwich and all word derivatives well hence forth be Capitalized.

Lamentably, Toronto, unlike many other North America urban conglomerations, is not truly known for having a signature Sandwich. Philly has its Cheesesteak, Chicago has its goofy but loveable sister the Italian beef, NYC/Montreal have their own deli imprints (however Toronto’s role in the deli world will be investigated robustly in an upcoming blog entry),etc. The closest Toronto has to a “signature Sandwich” is the Peameal on a Kaiser. While this Sandwich seems fairly endemic to Toronto/the Golden Horseshoe, it lacks the wide scale availability of the aforementioned me-tro-po-wich(es). Despite the relatively sparse availability, no clear consensus has emerged on who, TRULY, makes Toronto’s finest Peameal on a Kaiser.

A few backgrounders:

1) One theory posits the origin of this Sandwich to the Mennonites in the GTA. Who needs lights when you have the electrifying power of pork.

2) Pea-meal, aka Back-Bacon, is a misnomer. Once upon a time, our Sandwich forefathers used to dip the back-bacon cut of the pig in pea-meal before pickling, but this has long since been replaced by Corn Meal.

3) Should any of my dear readers choose to replicate this challenge I suggest A) my entry not in any way be relied upon for proof of cardiological fitness/the safeness in general eating that much pork... Also bring some Lipitor and a heckuva lot of water.


The St Lawrence Market should not be limited in its Sandwich goodies to just the Peameal; Mustachio’s in the basement makes the most substantial vegetarian Sandwich I have ever seen, good Portuguese chicken Sandwiches abound and plenty of culinary goodness awaits you at every next corner.

The Sandwiches were reviewed up to very specific guidelines. Points were awarded for Quality of Roll (is it crusty on the outside, yet soft and nurturing on the inside) , Cooking of Peameal/Essential Tenderness, Peameal Thickness (guided by the driving ethos of Peameal slicing being: too thick = hamsteak, too thin = no texture) Overall Taste and a discretionary aka “Wow” factor. I was dutifully assisted in filing out the constructed “Peameal Matrix” by loyal fans and luminaries of Canwiches:

Brian “Assorted Annex Sub” Higgins and



Chris “Son of Pita” Reineck.




Contender #1: Carousel
Carousel is in my humble opinion the most bally-hooed of the St Lawrence Sandwiches. Although a lot of hype the panel, perhaps suffering from the biases that typically befall judges in not awarding high points to the first figure skater, were not overly impressed.


Some of the most important panel observations about the Carousel Peameal Sandwich:

• The biggest point of contention was that the Sandwich came pre-wrapped, thus made before hand. The judges all felt that if this Sandwich been made to order it would have received much better scores. The only positive was the it meant there was no wait
• Good level of smokiness
• • The Sandwich, with bread, was 2” thick and consisted of approximately 4 thick slices.
• • Cost was $5.30 + tax

Contender #2
Paddington’s Pump

Paddington’s Pump is the largest Peameal outfit in the Market, with both a seating area and an outside takeout window.



Here is the scientific breakdown:



Important Sandwich Observations:

• Reineck: “it was ready just before I checked my watch”. The Sandwiches took about 5 minutes from time of order
• All judges enjoyed the cayenne garlic spice rub applied to the Peameal during grilling.
• Points were awarded for the adorableness of the name for the sandwich, the “Oink”
• Excellent Roll
• The Sandwich had 6-8 thinish slices and clocked in at 3 1/4 "



Contender #3: Sausage King

It should be noted that the Sausage King was the only contender that did not serve Peameal primarily. One can surmise that noting the popularity of the sandwich elsewhere, an enterprising young Sausage-monge rer decided to hop on board the Peameal Train. As such, this kind of Sandwich hobo-ery was reflected in the quality of the sandwich.




Chart:
Important Sandwich Observations:
- worst bun yet
- Pork was dry, unappetizing
- Sausage condiments due to nature of biz
- Good thickness
- One rather crass judge remarked: “despite the all male nature of this judging panel, no sausage fest has or will ever occur”.



So that’s it, It seems that Paddington’s Pump has emerged as the wearer of the First Ever “Canwiches Gold Star for Subject-Specific Superiority”™.

While this is by no means the ends of the Peameal debate, I can sleep easy knowing that Canwiches has taken a sufficiently scientific approach to it all.