Italy’s ultimate answer to bacon: Guanciale

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:01:00 +0000

A recent year in Italy taught me that the pig is the king of its gastronomic jungle. Italians heart hogs. They prepare every imaginable part in every imaginable manner: cured and roasted and braised, even slow-poached in olive oil. One terrifying morning, in the back of a butcher shop, I ate it raw, slathered on a slice of rustic bread. Surviving the sushi-sausage experience would have been the most memorable encounter with the noble swine had it not been for an introduction to guanciale. At a sleepy trattoria, somewhere in the middle of Italy, I had a plate of pasta steeped in such succulence that I had to ask the owner the secret. "Semplice," he said, pinching my face, "guancia."

"Guancia" in Italian means pillow, which is synonymous with cheek. And it's the facial aspect of the word, and the animal, that found its way into the kitchens of central Italy. Apparently pancetta, the familiar smoked and cured pork belly, simply wasn't bold enough for rendering purposes, so they went to the face and found a far more profound flavor. To produce guanciale, the jowls of a hog are short-cured (three to four weeks) in salt and sugar and spices. The abbreviated process works well with the jowls' combination of streaked meat and thick fat. And it's that fat/meat quotient (as opposed to pancetta, which is meatier) that makes guanciale such a solid base. The fat melts in a hot pan, leaving the tender meat and a silky lipid of smoke and salt that informs but doesn't overwhelm any soup or sauce.

Bucatini all’amatriciana

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:01:00 +0000

Serves 4 as a main course, 6-8 as a starter

Ingredients

1 pound bucatini (a thick, dry spaghetti can be substituted)
½ pound of guanciale sliced into long, thin strips (make matchsticks)
1 medium red onion, halved and sliced ¼-inch thick
1½ teaspoons of red pepper flakes
1 large can of whole San Marzano tomatoes (crushed by hand)
½ cup of torn basil leaves plus a handful julienned and reserved for garnish
½ cup of grated Pecorino Romano plus ¼ cup for sprinkling
salt and sugar, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Salon.com > Andrew Cotto

Italy’s ultimate answer to bacon: Guanciale

Bucatini all’amatriciana

Ingredients