Guanciale, the magical Roman bacon

fx

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 13:22:55 GMT

No cream in traditional carbonara. Usually you place the yolk right before sending it to the table but if you like cooked yolk or fear raw eggs you might try to mix it with the still piping hot pasta to cook it off, but that would be a pity. Glad you liked the recipe!

fx

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 19:25:45 GMT

I think they kept the guanciale for themselves!

Molly

Sun, 10 Apr 2016 19:53:33 GMT

I attempted to bring a hunk of guanciale and some bottarga into the US from Florence. US Customs confiscated the guanciale but let me keep the bottarga. I think the guy was so confused by it, he just let it go.

fx

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:19:00 GMT

Thanks Sterling, I did not know that but as we say, in the pork only the hooves are not eaten so clearly nobody would leave those delicious jowls to eat! But few people salt and dry jowls outside Italy.

fx

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:17:35 GMT

Yes Rob I think you are lucky, this is quite a range of nice ingredients within your grasp!

fx

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 14:57:38 GMT

OK thanks

fx

Sat, 19 Mar 2016 18:39:27 GMT

Thanks

fx

Sat, 19 Mar 2016 18:39:11 GMT

I hope this pointed you in the right direction - pasta all"amatriciana

fx

Mon, 14 Mar 2016 20:48:58 GMT

Thanks

fx

Sat, 12 Mar 2016 21:23:44 GMT

Paolo I think you are right

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:01:09 GMT

Glad you liked it!

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:00:58 GMT

Thanks very funny, may I be a Centurion?

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 11:56:51 GMT

Ah the Italians can be very conservative when it comes to classic dishes with many Doctors of the Law, but I think in this case they are right. I saw a variation using smoked pancetta instead of guanciale, very interesting too!

fx

Sun, 6 Mar 2016 21:07:18 GMT

I hope you finally got your hands on some guanciale, Barbara.

fx

Sat, 5 Mar 2016 20:24:15 GMT

Good find Ashton, I hope this became a staple in your pantry!

fx

Thu, 3 Mar 2016 14:58:44 GMT

Good buy!

fx

Thu, 3 Mar 2016 13:01:59 GMT

Glad you had a good time.

matt

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 00:02:09 GMT

volpi salumeria in the st. louis little italy (the hill) has guanciale. in fact, i just bought some and googled it because i wasnt entirely sure what it was.

Sumi

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 23:10:46 GMT

OH MY GOD! This looks so good, I"ve always wetnad to try making Carbonara but every recipe I found was made with cream and I"m lactose intolerant. I can eat cheese as long as it"s of the hard variety (TMI I know!) so this recipe works for me. I am just curious if the last yolk you placed on top cooked very much before you ate it?

nameTom P

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:05:38 GMT

You can get smoked guanciale by mail order from Virginia Traditions located near Williamsburg, VA. The price is right and they are great people to buy from.

www.virginiatraditions.com

James

Sat, 10 Nov 2012 02:48:51 GMT

You can get Guanciale at Salumi or DeLaurenti"s in Seattle.

Paolo

Sat, 3 Nov 2012 15:55:15 GMT

Sorry, how can you call guanciale pancetta or bacon???? Plus apart from volpetti wich is very good and very expensive, you will find guanciale in many places in rome
I dont know in italy, but in rome everybody knows the difference!!!
And life goes on

Howie

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:49:21 GMT

I live in Italy and spaghetti cnrobaara is one of my favorite restaurant dishes. There are many variations of this recipe but your version seems to be essentially identical to those claiming to be classico italiano . All agree it"s Roman; some say it"s ancient but most say it"s from WWII. Nearly all call for long pasta, guanciale, and Pecorino while prohibiting the use of cream. A few prohibit Parmigiano-Reggiano, but many use a 50/50 mixture as you did. A few versions use short pasta and/or include garlic or Basel, or hot peppers. Some serve the intact egg yolk on top so that the diner can combine it with the pasta, but that strikes me as a bit risky especially if the yoke is served in the half-shell or if the pasta cools off too much. Most Italian recipes I"ve found use cheese which is more finely grated than you show in the video and that might help to make a more creamy sauce. Usually the quantity of guanciale is a little more generous, it"s normally cut into 1/4 inch cubes, and cooked until crispy. Most also use finely ground pepper rather than course ground you showed, but these are tiny variations in the overall scheme of things and I think you"ve done everyone a big favor with your very authentic recipe.Interestingly, a few Italian cnrobaara recipes don"t include any back pepper at all. Last week I had some taglierini (thin tagliatelle) cnrobaara served in Piemonte (well north of Rome) without any detectable pepper. Some years ago spaghetti cnrobaara was served to me in Rome and after plating the pasta, it was completely covered with a very generous coating of finely ground black pepper nearly obscuring the pasta itself. It really lived up to the name. Both extreme variations were delicious.

Natinho

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 01:56:41 GMT

That"s wonderful, Bao! Congratulations on being the first to try a reicpe and let us know how it worked. La Carbonara is a classic reicpe from the city of Rome you"re an honorary Roman once you"ve made that dish. Your toga is in the mail.

Firmin

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:44:48 GMT

Cara, I just made it for dinner and I love it!!! Simple pasta to make and dioucelis! I love that it requires so little ingredients! I am always looking for recipes where I don"t have to go buy ten thousand things I don"t already have in my kitchen. I went shopping for the stuff and thought to myself, That"s it? Am I missing anything? Thanks for the easy recipes! I am going to try everything!

Barbara Sands

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:44:02 GMT

It is always a thrill to read about something totally new to my kitchen. I can"t get it here in Mexico, probably, but will look forward to my next trip to Rome.

Ashton

Mon, 9 Apr 2012 06:05:04 GMT

Just found some at the 125th street fairway in NYC. It was extremely reasonable, $4 per quarter lb. excited to try it in some of my pastas.

CT

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:49:44 GMT

I just bought some at my local Whole Foods!!!!!! Carbonara here i come!

Nancy D.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:55:29 GMT

I found it!!
I was looking for guanciale for a Stracatto recipe, looking forward to a special evening with friends. I very much liked your article and got inspired. I was going to make guanciale but got cold feet since I would be cooking for friends. Then I found an elegant product in the nick of time. Olympic Provisions in Portland, Oregon makes their own. (I found Olympic Provisions in a small blurb in Saveur magazine, "didn"t even know it was here in my own city!)

Thank you for your great article. I hope you are still having a good time in the kitchen and charcuterie. n.d.

Sterling

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 07:58:49 GMT

Everyone should know that Italy is not the only culinary culture to prize cured pork jowls. My early years was on a farm in rural North Carolina. Almost every family raised, butchered and cured their own pork. One of the most coveted cuts of pork was the jowl. The pork was butchered in during the cold months of the year, usually November thru January early. Freshly butchered pork was coated with a mixture of salt and pepper and kept in the smokehouse until early spring. Once the weather warmed the meat was washed and coated with another blend of peppers and hanged in the smokehouse where it was allowed to age until used. There was not refrigeration. Pig heads including the jowls were cured in this manner.
Some cured pig heads were boiled whole for festive occasions. Often times, slices of cured jowls were incorporated in vegetable dishes. For breakfast, slices of jowl were cooked to a crisp as bacon. Greens and beans cooked with jowl in the place of regular fat back or pork belly were considered a treat. There was nothing like crisp jowl with sauteed green apples. Due to my own experience of the culinary delights of a rural farm, I can appreciate the culinary buzz over guanciale.

Rob Federle

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 20:52:08 GMT

We must be very lucky indeed in the San Francisco Bay area. We have at least one restaurant in SF that makes their own guanciale, Barbacco SF, and we also have Boccalone, an old style salumeria, who believe in using the whole pig, snout to tail. Their guanciale is incredible, and it really exist, because I will be serving it at my New Years Day dinner. Luckily for the rest of the US, they ship. Google the business name, and mange!

chris stephens

Sun, 4 Dec 2011 18:40:55 GMT

good article. I have ordered jowls from a butcher for next week. Would love good receipts for making guanciale.

Philip Curnow

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:50:24 GMT

We have just ate the most wonderful pasta with guanciale in the province of Rieti n Lazio. It is called pasta alla gricia and the overall result is a dish of such sublime delicacy, I can still tatse it after 2 weeks. Try it.

Dan

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:34:23 GMT

I enjoyed the article very much. I especially appreciate the correct pronunciation of the word. I"m making my own right now. I just finished mixing salt, sugar,peppercorns, fresh thyme and garlic. It will stay in the fridge for a week and then will hang for 3 weeks.
My recipe is different than the one you describe, but I"d love to find this one.

I breed Berkshire pigs that live on pasture and in a hardwood forrest with lots of acorns. I"ve made some great pancetta, sausage and all the other great cuts of meat from this amazing animal, the pig. I don"t think you can raise a better animal for meat. Yum!

Geri C.

Tue, 31 May 2011 01:41:47 GMT

You can buy Guanciale at Vincent"s Meat Market, Arthur Avenue. (Belmont area of the Bronx), NY

marvin davis

Mon, 7 Feb 2011 14:36:34 GMT

I found and purchase rather authentic Guanciale in Kingston, NY at
Fleisher"s Grass Fed Meats. It delicious and the price is reasonable for a full
cheek.

Harry

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:22:17 GMT

By and away the most informative thing I"ve found on the web. God how I love the Internet!!!!!!!!!!!

Debra S

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:27:15 GMT

Just to let everyone in Los Angeles know that you can buy Salume Beddu"s Guanciale at Cube � a gourmet marketplace, cafe and cheese bar. It"s the best guanciale we"ve ever tried. We"re at 615 N. La Brea Avenue at the junction with Melrose Avenue. Check out our menu at www.cubemarketplace.com

Sean

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:06:32 GMT

Picked up some (pepper) Italian guanciale here in Prague and have been experimenting with it. Very nice stuff.

fx

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:43:15 GMT

Good luck for your trip through the customs!

Joe S,

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:20:09 GMT

Made it to Volpetti"s today and bagged some gianciale for me and friends back home. Now, to get it back to Canada and through customs.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:47:45 GMT

In such simple recipes the right type of ingredient (ie guanciale vs pancetta) really makes a world of difference.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:44:10 GMT

Jake, you can use guanciale in very simple recipes (just on a piece of toast) or as a basis in a rag�, to give a little hit-me-back kick.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:25:21 GMT

Indeed a treat it is!

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:21:55 GMT

Thank you Erik, our list of suppliers is expanding by the day!

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:21:19 GMT

Thank you Sonny.

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:21:09 GMT

Fantastic, Armandino, continue the good work!

armandino batali

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:12:37 GMT

we have made guanciale for some 7 years---great product from heritage pigs---from heritage farms--
wonderful flavor enhancer for veggies and certinly the right and proper product for spaghetti carbonari

sonny

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:43:44 GMT

you can buy guanciale from Sid Wainer & Son on line. www.sidwainer.com

Erik

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:32:26 GMT

Thank you for all your great recipes and in-depth articles!

For UK reader"s (I"m not one of them) you can buy guanciale from nifeislife.com an online delicatessen. I bought a whole piece and have enjoyed it several times recently as part of a genuine carbonara - alla gricia is next.

Will try to make it myself and have checked that my butcher can supply the jowls :-) So if the first Norwegian guanciale turns out to be a success I will definitely send you a picture!