My mother is a bacon connoisseur

Special thanks to C for taking this pic

My mother loves bacon.  No, wait - that's probably an understatement.  My mother LOOOOVES and ADOOORES bacon.  About 9 months ago, my mother and I went to Beijing, staying at the World China Hotel.

I have to say, breakfast was always good, and there really is something to please every palate.  You want congee for breakfast?  Sure.  An omelette with cheese, mushrooms and peppers? Sure, whatever you want - the chef is standing there waiting for your order. Watching your waistline?  Porridge, oatmeal, whole wheat toast, fruit, yogurt...all of that was available. And, if for some really, really, strange and warped reason you felt like having salmon sashimi for breakfast, that was available too.  

With such a large selection of food, you would've thought potatoes, eggs and bacon would be available.  And well, it was.  Just not the way my mother and I imagined.  Because, while we were in Beijing (which is, approximately a 15 hour flight away), they had the audacity to serve TURKEY bacon.

Personally, I was fine with the bacon.  It was kind of chewy, but still, it tasted like bacon.  But to my mother? It was BLASPHEMY.  How could a five-star hotel NOT have proper bacon?  My poor mother...every day, she would go back to see if the kitchen was serving pork bacon.  Every single day, she'd be disappointed.  

But, the funny thing was, as much as she complained about it, she would have the turkey bacon every day and then critique it.  Thinking back, it was similar to a wine connoisseur tasting rating a bottle of wine.

But the experience (if it taught me anything) is that we Canadians really are spoiled by the quality of bacon produced here. If you want bacon at home? Sure, make it.  It's pretty messy, but worth it.  (If I'm REALLY desperate for bacon, I'll throw it into the oven and bake it - it helps with the fat content...kinda...)

Don't feel like cooking?  Head over to Cora's or the Sunset Grill.  Or any other local greasy spoon.  My point is, good quality bacon is accessible anywhere in Canada. And not just regular pork belly bacon strips.  There's back bacon, peameal bacon, (and after some research), slab bacon and cottage bacon. (I'm pretty sure I'm leaving some out.)  

To be frank, we're pretty spoiled when it comes to bacon. Given the selection we have here, I guess it does explain why one of the very first meals we had out after getting home was at Cora's. Can you guess what my mother ordered?