Guanciale Review

Sorry folks, I fell a bit behind on posting. Last week I finally gave in and pulled the guanciale from the curing box. I can't say that I am disappointed, but it is not what I was expecting. It has a very rich pork and salt taste. It has almost no hint of herbs or pepper. My first taste was a slice that I pan-fried. It tasted almost exactly, but not quite like cracklin'.

Two days later, I made Spaghetti alla Carbonara with it. This came out startlingly good. I had it for dinner and leftovers for breakfast (Hey, its just eggs, bacon, and cheese with pasta, right?).

I sliced most of it very thinly, saving a few 1/2" slabs just in case. I forgot to take pictures until after I had vaccum sealed it all up.

Overall I like the final product, but I learned a few lessons for next time:

1. Get a smaller jowl. The jowl I had was 4 1/2 lbs. Most recipes that I have call for 2 jowls totalling 3 lbs. I think that this one had a higher fat-to-meat ratio than most.

2. Use more herbs and pepper to impart more flavor. If I want cracklin' I can make cracklin'.

As I write this I am finishing off my excellent lonzino and a bottle of wine. Good livin'.

David