Eons ago, I went with some friends to Ireland, where we stayed mostly
in B&Bs (the cheapest lodging option, unlike in the US where you pay
Holiday Inn prices to stay in the equivalent of Grandma's spare room).

The breakfasts were uniformly excellent, the best meal of the day. But
the bacon was outside our experience. Although shaped in strips, they
were not streaky, but a broad swath of lean pork, adjacent to a thin
strip of fat, and then another strip of lean.

We started and ended our trip in Dublin. The last day we breakfasted
at a Bewleys, which cooked this bacon in a deep fat fryer.

Is this the default style of bacon in Great Britain as well?
Where on the hog does this bacon come from?
And why the deep frying?

On 15/12/2014 11:09 AM, wrote:
> Eons ago, I went with some friends to Ireland, where we stayed mostly
> in B&Bs (the cheapest lodging option, unlike in the US where you pay
> Holiday Inn prices to stay in the equivalent of Grandma's spare room).
>
> The breakfasts were uniformly excellent, the best meal of the day. But
> the bacon was outside our experience. Although shaped in strips, they
> were not streaky, but a broad swath of lean pork, adjacent to a thin
> strip of fat, and then another strip of lean.
>
> We started and ended our trip in Dublin. The last day we breakfasted
> at a Bewleys, which cooked this bacon in a deep fat fryer.
>
> Is this the default style of bacon in Great Britain as well?
> Where on the hog does this bacon come from?
> And why the deep frying?
>
Back bacon.
We always had it at home. What you may call "side" bacon was called
"streaky" in the UK (at least where I was brought up).
Graham

In article >,
says...
>
> Eons ago, I went with some friends to Ireland, where we stayed mostly
> in B&Bs (the cheapest lodging option, unlike in the US where you pay
> Holiday Inn prices to stay in the equivalent of Grandma's spare room).
>
> The breakfasts were uniformly excellent, the best meal of the day. But
> the bacon was outside our experience. Although shaped in strips, they
> were not streaky, but a broad swath of lean pork, adjacent to a thin
> strip of fat, and then another strip of lean.
>
> We started and ended our trip in Dublin. The last day we breakfasted
> at a Bewleys, which cooked this bacon in a deep fat fryer.
>
> Is this the default style of bacon in Great Britain as well?

The cut of bacon is. Deep fat frying it definitely isn't :-(

I almost always grill it (no extra fat required)

> Where on the hog does this bacon come from?

The cut is called back bacon and is cut through from the loin to the
belly.

This explains it with pictures.

http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/back-bacon.html

What you call American bacon, is cut only from the pork belly. In the
UK it's called streaky bacon. Streaky is cheaper than back bacon;
considerably downmarket (you wouldn't, or shouldn't, get served streaky
bacon in a UK hotel or BB).

Janet UK

On Mon, 15 Dec 2014 20:03:00 -0000, Janet > wrote:

>In article >,
says...
>>
>> Eons ago, I went with some friends to Ireland, where we stayed mostly
>> in B&Bs (the cheapest lodging option, unlike in the US where you pay
>> Holiday Inn prices to stay in the equivalent of Grandma's spare room).
>>
>> The breakfasts were uniformly excellent, the best meal of the day. But
>> the bacon was outside our experience. Although shaped in strips, they
>> were not streaky, but a broad swath of lean pork, adjacent to a thin
>> strip of fat, and then another strip of lean.
>>
>> We started and ended our trip in Dublin. The last day we breakfasted
>> at a Bewleys, which cooked this bacon in a deep fat fryer.
>>
>> Is this the default style of bacon in Great Britain as well?
>
> The cut of bacon is. Deep fat frying it definitely isn't :-(
>
> I almost always grill it (no extra fat required)
>
>> Where on the hog does this bacon come from?
>
> The cut is called back bacon and is cut through from the loin to the
>belly.
>
> This explains it with pictures.
>
> http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/back-bacon.html
>
> What you call American bacon, is cut only from the pork belly. In the
>UK it's called streaky bacon. Streaky is cheaper than back bacon;
>considerably downmarket (you wouldn't, or shouldn't, get served streaky
>bacon in a UK hotel or BB).

That's an unexpected attitude. I prefer streaky bacon myself.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:09:00 -0800 (PST),
wrote:
You can congratulate yourself. In Southern U.S. that's called eating
"High on the Hog". Far superior to usual American fare. For another
treat, try Hungarian double smoked slab bacon, available in the US
under the Bende label.

>The breakfasts were uniformly excellent, the best meal of the day. But
>the bacon was outside our experience. Although shaped in strips, they
>were not streaky, but a broad swath of lean pork, adjacent to a thin
>strip of fat, and then another strip of lean.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2014 20:03:00 -0000, Janet > wrote:

> In article >,
> says...
> >
> > Is this the default style of bacon in Great Britain as well?
>
> The cut of bacon is. Deep fat frying it definitely isn't :-(
>
> I almost always grill it (no extra fat required)
>
> > Where on the hog does this bacon come from?
>
> The cut is called back bacon and is cut through from the loin to the
> belly.
>
> This explains it with pictures.
>
> http://www.englishbreakfastsociety.com/back-bacon.html
>
> What you call American bacon, is cut only from the pork belly. In the
> UK it's called streaky bacon. Streaky is cheaper than back bacon;
> considerably downmarket (you wouldn't, or shouldn't, get served streaky
> bacon in a UK hotel or BB).
>
My husband would be in 7th heaven if he could find British style bacon
with American style flavor here (at a reasonable price of course).

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room