The market · Meat · Southern Europe

Pancetta

Italian cured pork belly — salted, spiced and air-dried, and usually not smoked.

porky · salty · sweet fat

What to do with it

Kenji Hara's Sourdough, 100% ryePancetta would give it depthIbu Sari's Beef rendangPancetta would give it depthAna Etxarri's ChawanmushiPancetta would season itRosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineapplePancetta would soften its edge
Classics built on it
ItalianRagù alla bologneseA slow sauce of minced beef and pork with soffritto, a little tomato, wine and milk — served with tagliatelle.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Tesa
Flat; cut into cubes for sauces.
Arrotolata
Rolled; sliced thin.
Affumicata
Smoked; closer to bacon.

If you can't find it

Italian delis and supermarkets.

  1. 1Bacon
    Unsmoked streaky bacon, the same weight
    You lose a little of the cure's spice.

Goes with

peaeggparmesanonion

Knowing it

Where to buy
Italian delis. Buy it in a piece and cut it yourself.
Worth knowing
Render it slowly in a cold pan. Guanciale is the Roman choice for carbonara; pancetta is the usual swap.

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