I don't recall hearing the word before, either. Atomica has it, though:
flitch (flĭch)
n.
1. A salted and cured side of bacon.
2. A longitudinal cut from the trunk of a tree.
3. One of several planks secured together to form a single beam.
[Middle English flicche, from Old English flicce.]
From dxb's link:
Then the pilgrim was taken on men's shoulders, and carried, first about the priory church and yard, and afterwards through the village, attended by monks of the convent. The bacon was borne in triumph before them.
Could this be where the phrase 'bringing home the bacon' came from?
