Guanciale

[3rensho]

This is my second batch of Guanciale.  This one I left hanging in the cellar for five months after curing. It was very hard. Forgot to take a picture of the whole piece that was nice and moldy.  This stuff is great to eat sliced 0.5mm thick and drizzled with EVOO or used in Bucatini all'Amatriciana.  The extra hanging time really improves the flavor.

Click to enlarge

[Habanero Smoker]

As always, your cured meats look fantastic.

[ExpatCanadian]

Awesome...  after my recent pancetta experience I've been wanting to try my hand at guanciale.  I can get fresh jowls from my butcher, so might have to go for it before it warms up too much to hang it in my house (no basement  :()

[3rensho]

...before it warms up too much to hang it in my house...

In the middle of summer even my cellar gets too warm to hang meat.  It's strictly a late autumn to early spring deal for me.

[classicrockgriller]

That looks like  a work of ART. What kinda taste/texture does this produce?

A true Labor of Love.

[3rensho]

It's great stuff.  I used Len Poli's recipe.  Texture is as you'd expect from a dried piece of pork very thinly sliced.  Not quite as creamy as Bresaola but still moist and easy to chew.  It's a tiny bit salty and flavored with fresh rosemary, sage and garlic.  It's good on crostini with a splash of really good EVOO.  We get single varietal EVOO from Mallorca.  If you like air dried meats it's a good one to try and really improves with longish aging. 

[Tenpoint5]

I really wish I could get the nerve up to do some dry curing like that.

[3rensho]

As I was slicing this the outer end was all fat - and tasted like a good lardo.  At .25mm thick it melted on the tongue.  Don't let your cardiologist know about this stuff  ::) ::)

[ExpatCanadian]

I'm spending a week in Switzerland at the end of the month, in Sils i/D....  my friend there has beautiful old wine cellar that is part of the original foundations of the building from the early 15th century.  Perhaps she'll let me hang some meat there....!  Only problem is that with Switzerland being non-EU, I'd have to become a smuggler to get it back to the UK!