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Comment by twic | Hacker News Reader

In the UK, we mostly eat back bacon rather than the streaky bacon which predominates in the US, and it is usually packaged like this:

https://www.ocado.com/productImages/637/63740011_0_640x640.j...

There's no artful hiding, but the label covers the fatty tail.

Sometimes, fancy bacon is shingle-packed, but the top isn't covered:

https://www.ocado.com/productImages/145/14531011_0_640x640.j...

Even if it's streaky:

https://www.ocado.com/productImages/265/26532011_0_640x640.j...

I'd be interested to know if this is because of UK (or EU!) food packaging regulations, or if it's just local custom.

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What you Brits call bacon is not really a bacon. Too much protein, not enough fat. This: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon#/media/File:Speck-1.jpg is a bacon ;)

[sips tea]

[continues to pity the poor foreigners]

[nods in agreement]

[sips tea]

Quite.

That is fat with a hint of food attached to it. The very idea of streaky bacon turns my stomach now, it's just fat and the idea is disgusting.

How do you feel about a ribeye steak?

Is there a lot of fat on it? The more fat I have to cut off of it, the more unappetizing it becomes. I want meat to be as lean as is physically possible.

If I eat gobs of fat, I get nauseous, (gross stuff coming up) the same way you so when you have a horrible cold and a tonne of mucus dripping down the back of your throat and into your stomach.

Do you know why fat disgusts you, or it subconscious?

Butter, bacon, rib eye, dairy cream...they sound so delicious.

Unhealthy? Maybe. But not more than soda, pixie sticks, etc. Seeing those doesn't turn my stomach; it just makes me sorry for the poor pancreases.

Interestingly enough, in New Zealand, shoulder bacon predominates, which is even leaner.

I think that shoulder bacon makes superior bacon butties, whilst streaky bacon is better in dishes with other things (such as macaroni cheese), where the fat adds a lot of flavour to the surrounding dish.

A dozen different varieties exist in foreign supermarkets whereas in North America unless you go to a specialty shop you're limited to crappy fat-laden bacon and, if you're lucky, back bacon.

I'd never heard of that; it looks great! Although i must register some skepticism at the claim of leanness:

http://www.ellesmerebutchery.co.nz/shoulder-bacon-sugar-cure...

It reminds me a bit of the gammon we have in the UK, which is meat from the hind leg, cured like bacon, but sold in joints or steaks, rather than thin slices, and which is quite lean:

https://www.ocado.com/productImages/281/281291011_0_640x640....

Meanwhile, in South Africa, shoulder bacon appears to be something else again:

http://www.freys.co.za/products/bacon/shoulder-bacon/

I recently spent a yeah in New Zealand and while I really like it there, I could never find bacon like at home in the US. Even the streaky bacon wouldn't crisp up like US bacon. I'm not sure what the difference is. Perhaps the NZ streaky bacon isn't cured in the same way? I'd love to know if anyone has the answer.

https://australianbakerycafe.com/ is the closest I've found on a trip to Atlanta GA, but I'm still searching for proper Australian style Bacon near where I live.

I think possibly NZ bacon is cured wetter than American bacon?

I guess it's an upbringing thing, but I really dislike crispy bacon, it just seems dry and overcooked to me.

Huh, so it's YOU who are the actual monsters behind "Canadian" bacon!

Canadian bacon is from the loin. it's different than back bacon.

"Canadian" bacon is often reformed as well in my experience. British and American are natural cuts.

Here's a good depiction of the 3 varieties: http://www.endlesssimmer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Baco...

In France, what we most often find labelled as bacon in supermarkets is the left one.

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