My goal in this blog entry (my first ever) is to rectify a big problem: I have found no complete article online, in Italian or English, detailing the process for making guanciale.
Guanciale [gwan-CHA-leh] is a spectacular cured meat product originating from northern Lazio/southern Umbria (Rieti-Amatrice-Norcia area). It provides the backbone for three war horses of Roman primi (first courses, often pasta - see my traditional Amatriciana recipe), and is also a starting point for many great contorni (veggie or legume-based side dishes). Guanciale tastes great on its own, which is my favorite way to determine a guanciale's quality. I've encountered hearsay that guanciale shouldn't be eaten on its own, but this is bullshit – it is cured and safe to eat, though it’s so fatty that a small amount suffices. While some compare guanciale to bacon (cured pork belly), the pork cheek used has a different fat-meat ratio than belly and a leaner, more animal flavor.
When I briefly returned to the US in Nov 2017, I tried making spaghetti alla carbonara for my family on Thanksgiving eve. At the Whole Foods near my parent's home in the west Chicago suburbs, I was not surprised when I couldn't find guanciale, and opted instead for thick-cut smoked and peppered bacon (the closest substitute). Unfortunately, the bacon's texture (and thus that of the dish) was all wrong (even though I cut the pieces as I would guanciale, they curled up and became crispy even on medium-low heat) and lacked guanciale's meatiness. Also, the rendered bacon left too much grease in the pan, eventually giving the noodles an excessive grease patina to have the egg and pecorino really adhere well. This fiasco left me feeling sad, but vabbe' / A fiasco che non dimentichero' mai.
I decided I want a steady supply of guanciale for the rest of my life, no matter where I live. Hence, I started conducting guanciale research in Sept 2017 and commenced my first experiments in making it traditionally shortly after. I tried:
- Using a combination of couple articles online (in Italian), neither of which completely outlined the process.
- Talking to two local butchers (Romano and Mariano at Carni Dintorni e...) near my home in Pigneto who make their own guanciale. Romano is beyond excited that an American is making guanciale; Mariano speaks in thick romano dialect which on my best day I understand 80%. He's in charge of the guanciale, and told me his salt-meat ratio and basic curing recipe. [XYZ ADD PICTURE]
- Other motivations for this project that may go without saying: I love Italian food tradition, I love meat with a shelf life, and I want to forge a lasting connection to Italy.
Guanciale Recipe
Ingredients
- A fresh pork cheek, skin on (they typically weigh between 1.5-2.5 kg)
- 50 g salt per kilo. I used fine sea salt from Todis.
- Aromas for curing: I invite you to use whatever spices/herbs you want, and write me with your results. I've stuck primarily to what I see and taste in Rome, using different combinations of garlic, crushed red pepper, and coarse ground black pepper. I've tried one batch using onions, oregano, and bay leaves.
- For finishing: Crushed red pepper or medium-fine black pepper
[XYZ include picture of raw cheeks, salt cure]
Preparation and curing
- With the exception of raising, slaughtering, and butchering the hog, we're making guanciale from scratch. Feel free to do these steps - I hope to, some day!
- Rinse the meat in cold water and hang it to air-dry. (why?)
- Once the cheek is dry, weigh it, and then separately weigh out the appropriate amount of salt (50 g salt per kg cheek)
- In a small bowl, mix the salt and any desired spices. I have never weighed out the spices, since I doubt the meat can be over-spiced (as long as the mass of spice doesn't exceed the mass of salt)
- Place the cheek in a baking dish, then cover it evenly on all sides with the salt-spice curing mixture
- Put meat and curing mixture in plastic sealed bags, taking care to push out all the air. Move the curing mixture around in the bag to ensure even meat coating
- Put sealed plastic bags in fridge, taking care not to stack them. [I wish I had a cantina or cave for this]
- The meat should cure for 10-14 days. I flip the cheeks every 2 days since liquid comes out of them and I want an even cure.
[XYZ include picture of bagged cheeks]
Adding finishing spices and resting
- Once curing is complete, open the bags, pour off the curing liquid, rinse the meat with cold water to remove the curing mixture, then let the meat air-dry
- Once the meat is dry, I coat the meat side (the side without pig whiskers) with pepper (either medium-fine ground black pepper or crushed red pepper)
- I thought briefly about coating the guanciale with other spices before deciding to stick to tradition. If you must experiment with finishing spices, ask yourself: "would I want this flavor in my carbonara?
- Store the guanciale in the fridge to dry for 2 months. I put a metal cooling rack in the fridge with the guanciale on top. I am currently quite limited by fridge space.
Results
[XYZ include picture of final product]
[some documentation of results]
Things I don't have that I wish I had
- A cantina or cave, naturally insulated to a temperature of 8-10 C, in which to cure the meat [a refrigerated shipping container could serve as a substitute - as seen in Lisa Gottreich's wonderful operation Bohemian Creamery in Sebastopol, CA]
- Direct access to a pig farmer [so I could really verify how the meat was raised, its provenance, and what it was fed. I'd love to experiment with certain types of pork.]
Research for next batch
- Why flip the guanciale every two days? How would more often/less often change it?
- What happens if you add more or less salt? [afraid to try] Can you dial up how tender/dry the guanciale is via more/less salt?
- What are the traditional cures and curing times? Why two months? What would a 1 month cure taste like? What would a 3 month cure taste like?
- I plan to visit Amatrice and Norcia to learn more about the guanciale-making tradition and answer my questions. I will bring them a sample of what I make at home for their appraisal.
- Since I hate food waste, for what could the curing liquid/spices be used (rather than being discarded)?