Pancetta

This traditional Italian delicacy is made from salt-cured pork belly, which is occasionally spiced with fennel, pepper, or nutmeg. Unlike other similar cured meats, pancetta is not usually smoked, but merely cured and left to dry, usually for months at a time.

Smoked varieties do exist, but they are nowhere near as common as the simple, clean-tasting cured type. It comes in two forms – rolled, typical of northern Italy, and in its original flat form, which is favored in central and southern Italy.

Pancetta is a staple ingredient in Italian cuisine, but it is also popular in numerous other European countries, and it holds a special place in traditional Italian-American cuisine. In Italy, it is often served as a cold cut alongside other varieties of cured meat, but outside Italy it is usually considered raw, and is often required to be cooked before consumption.  Read more