Guanciale
Tuesday, 23rd February 2010 | 9 Comments
Whenever I see a huge slab of guanciale, the cured jowl of a pig used in classic Roman pasta dishes, I always wonder to myself, “How could something that size come from a pig’s face?” I guess I don’t see pigs half as often as I think about eating them and I must forget what beasts they are. When they are full grown, most breeds are just absolutely huge. This weekend I happened upon some pigs in Mudchute Farm, a 32-acre park near Canary Wharf in London. One had particularly developed mandibles and I couldn’t help asking myself another question, “Does this pig know how sad it is that he will never become part of un bel piato d’amatriciana?”
Utopia ⇒
February 24th, 2010 at 1:22 am
I could be wrong, but doesn’t the area used for guanciale extend down along what we non-butchers might think of as the neck? Hence, as you say, the quite incredible size of these slabs.
February 28th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Not sure about that. My butcher here in London takes it out of the severed head (very little neck attached). Maybe it’s a different cut in Rome?
June 18th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
[...] it was worth it. The spaghetti alla carbonara was excellent: the pasta was perfectly al dente, the guanciale was salty and cripsy, and the eggy condiment was pleasantly light (or so I convinced [...]
June 19th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
[...] But first we shopped: red garlic spread from Agri. Api. Bio, an organic producer from Cassino (FR), guanciale and pancetta from Marcoccia e Diamante in Veroli (FR), and cherries. Because our kilo a day (each) [...]
September 17th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
[...] novel flavors like porchetta with Frascati wine, and gricia (with pecorino, black pepper and guanciale) are well conceived and [...]
November 14th, 2010 at 1:53 am
[...] some trimming and narrowed down the list to the essentials. I can proudly say we left no slab of guanciale unturned and, while we didn’t get to visit every place I had hoped, we did a pretty good [...]
March 26th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
[...] a fan of this dish in which pasta is tossed with egg yolk (and sometimes albumen), pecorino cheese, guanciale and black pepper, but 2010 was a record-setting year for my carbonara consumption–and [...]
October 27th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
[...] from Giulio Campello, pecorino romano from Caseificio De Juliis, 48-month aged parmigiano reggiano, guanciale from Amatrice, and tomatoes from Mount [...]
December 30th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
[...] Tavole Romane (food bloggers): The carbonara from Cesare al Casaletto wins our “Oscar” for 2011. There is a fine line between a luscious cabonara and a fritatta. At Cesare, they make an al dente carbonara with the pasta of your choice (mezze maniche, rigatoni, tonnarelli, or gnocchi di patate) and it is served with a prefectly creamy sauce with abundant bits of crispy guanciale. [...]