Ides 13: The Peameal Sandwich Beer
The Ides of May is a Maple Brown Ale, with notes of hot mustard and maple syrup to perfectly complement the iconic peameal bacon sandwich famously served by the Carousel Bakery at St. Lawrence Market.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE BREW:
Mayor John Tory proclaimed it our city’s signature dish. Celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Bobby Flay have gone out of their way to eat it when in town. It holds a spot in the “1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die.”
“We thought it would be fun to toot the hometown horn by bringing something uniquely Torontonian to Canada’s 150th birthday party. What’s better than creating a beer that is the perfect pairing with a peameal sandwich, the Official Food of Toronto?” says Adin Wener, co-founder of Henderson Brewing Co.
Henderson has teamed up with the Carousel Bakery and Kozlik’s mustard, both situated in Toronto’s world-renowned St. Lawrence Market, and Kevin Durkee from the Culinary Adventure Co., a Toronto-based food tour group, to create this beer as a nod to all the flavours at play, aiming to create the perfect beer to pair with this famed sandwich.
The history of the sandwich is pure Hogtown: peameal bacon was invented here in the early 1900s by William Davies (who died in 1921 after being butted by a goat). To extend the shelf life of lean loin cuts, Davies rolled them in crushed yellow peas. Cornmeal eventually replaced the peas, and it took another 50 years for the sandwich to arrive, but the result is world-famous deliciousness.
The iconic Carousel Bakery has been serving up these sandwiches to the masses from the same location in the Market since 1977. Kozlik’s Canadian Mustard was established in 1948 and remaines family-owned and -operated to this day, producing handmade mustard in small batches.
