Meat
Guanciale
Also called cured pork jowl
Cured pork jowl. It is not bacon and it is not pancetta, though both get asked to stand in.
Origin
Central Italy, especially Lazio. Carbonara and gricia grew around this fat, not smoked streaky rashers.
Flavour
Sweet, funky, peppery from the cure, more interesting than pancetta and without bacon's smoke. The lean tastes of aged pork; the fat tastes of pork and time.
How it is made
Jowl is salted, often with black pepper, then air-dried for weeks to months until the fat is firm. Commercial pieces vary in salt and age.
How to use it
Cut into batons, start in a cold pan, and render slowly so the fat melts before the lean hardens into jerky. Keep that fat — it is the emulsion for carbonara, loosened with pasta water and off-heat egg yolk. High heat burns the edges and leaves the centre waxy. Pancetta is the usual substitute: same idea, less funk, still unsmoked. Salt the pasta water a little less; guanciale is already a salt bomb.
Storage
Wrap in paper, then a loose bag, in the fridge. A whole piece keeps longer than pre-cubed tubs.
Recipes using it
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