There’s no pretty way to say it: guanciale is cured pork jowl, plain and simple. This might sound like something best left to the Anthony Bourdains of the world, but that would be a mistake. If you like bacon, you’ll love guanciale. Trust us!
Like bacon and pancetta, guanciale has a high fat to meat ratio. This translates into a meltingly tender texture with a deep, sweet-savory pork flavor. If pressed, we’d say guanciale has a richer flavor and a softer texture than either bacon or pancetta. It just seems to be somehow more than either one.
Guanciale is a knock-out in many traditional Italian dishes like pasta carbonara and bucatini all’amatriciana. We also like it cut into large chunks, crisped up in a pan, and added to salads, like in this recipe for Kale and Pig Cheek Salad. It can also be used in a slow-cooked ragout or stew. Guanciale won’t be the star ingredient, but just a little will deepen the other flavors and add that little extra something special.
Guanciale can still be pretty hard to find. Ask for it at your local butchers and specialty food stores. It’s normally sold whole, which we like because then we have the freedom to cut it into whatever sized pieces we want. Guanciale is also typically unsmoked, but smoked varieties are delicious if you ever come across them!
Do you love guanciale? How do you like to use it?
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(Image: Salumi Artisan Cured Meats)
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Oh, how I love guanciale. I had it in Italy a few years back and it was nearly impossible to find in the US, and when I did, it was reaaaallly expensive. I had some a couple of weeks ago, though, on a pizza. With truffles. And a fried egg. Holy moley.
Cured and/or smoked pork jowl (we call it hog jowl) is *very* common in old-style southern U.S. cooking. It is primarily used to season vegetables and is a traditional part of the southern New Year's meal. Most any grocery store in the southern U.S. will have a ready supply on hand!
Guanciale is very easy to make, especially if you have a wine refrigerator to hang it in while it is curing.
My husband is a total nut for this stuff. I find it too fatty for my tastes, but he loves it. He also recently bought a special fridge for curing meats, so he will be very happy to try making his own!
LanaAnn, the hog jowl I've seen here in SC is smoked and guanciale is not smoked. Have you seen cured-but-not-smoked hog jowl?
We have an awesome local artisan here in Milwaukee who makes some fantastic guanciale (as well as other products)... sometimes it's nice to be in the heart of "pork product/cheese/beer land"!
Oh man the Bolzano guy has an epic mustache too. Brew town for the win!
Cheek meat is the best part if you ask those who enjoy pig. My husband once received a pig for roasting from the supplier sans jowls. Needless to say he was not a repeat customer.
We tried to make guanciale ourselves after reading a Saveur article, but it ended up getting ruined because of climate control issues. Lame!