tem wrote:I currently have about 1.5lbs of guanciale from Salumi in Seattle in my travel bag. Picked it up yesterday while in the city for a conference. Can't wait to use it ! I figger it'll be OK being unrefrigerated for a while, right ?

Oh, I don't think so. You should bring it by my house so I can dispose of it properly!

Has anyone used guanciale for spaghetti carbonara? I've heard of that as a substitute for bacon but haven't tried it.

trpt2345 wrote:Has anyone used guanciale for spaghetti carbonara? I've heard of that as a substitute for bacon but haven't tried it.

Definitely. I'm not much a fan of bacon in carbonara. For me, the smokiness takes it from rich to oppressive. Pancetta, definitely. Guanciale, even better.

trpt2345 wrote:Has anyone used guanciale for spaghetti carbonara? I've heard of that as a substitute for bacon but haven't tried it.

Carbonara (primarily with guanciale) dedicated thread

Guanciale isn't as much of a substitute for bacon as bacon is a substitute for guanciale. Go ahead and try it - you'll love it!

Bridgestone wrote:

trpt2345 wrote:Has anyone used guanciale for spaghetti carbonara? I've heard of that as a substitute for bacon but haven't tried it.

Carbonara (primarily with guanciale) dedicated thread

Guanciale isn't as much of a substitute for bacon as bacon is a substitute for guanciale. Go ahead and try it - you'll love it!

I'm going to give it a whirl this weekend, thanks for the link, nice thread. If this works out I'll have something else with which to impress my mother in law.

I picked up this beauty below from Salume Beddu in St. Louis where they make their own in house. Seek these boys out if you're in the area. I should of got more. But I knew that was going to happen when I was buying it so that's what I get. Luckily I'll be back as I may be investing with a buddy in the area. Great place to eat.


"A Roman specialty. Highly spiced with red pepper flakes, brown sugar, black peppercorn & rosemary"


Bucatini all'Amatriciana at Home

Salume Beddu
3467 Hampton Ave
St Louis, MO 63139
(314) 353-3100

Pasta all'amatriciana has to be one of my top 5 all time home made dinners. Guanciale is something I should really try making myself but with solid version readily found around town, why bother. I've tinkered with the recipe quite a few times and prefer the guanciale sliced thin and ever so slowly rendered until just shy of crispy.

When my daughter did some Xmas shopping over the weekend at Paulina Meat Market, she scored a couple pounds of pork cheek (guanciale) for my usage in bucatini alla' amatriciana.

I have been obsessed with amatriciana since a trip to Italy three years ago, when we had the traditional version at Da Giggetto in Rome's 'Jewish Ghetto'. It was transcendent, the best pasta dish of the whole trip, and that's saying a lot considering we also enjoyed Sicilian red sauce with native olives & capers in Taormina, and tagliatelle with wild boar (cinghiale) in Florence.

I have been told on more than one occasion that Roman amatriciana consists of five ingredients only: olive oil, guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, crushed red pepper & grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Since the trip, I have attempted to reproduce this dish at home using different cuts of pancetta, and admittedly including either minced onion or shallots, or some Italian parsley, trying to get that taste & consistency, which contains not much juice at all, the ingredients nestling atop the firm bucatini. And while my version is tasty and garners rave reviews, it ain't what I remember it to be.

So...my anticipation is high for the guanciale experiment. I will cook it--as described upthread--slowly almost to the point of crispiness. Let's see how close to the sun I can fly...

Paulina Meat Market
3501 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 248-6272

http://www.paulinameatmarket.com

jnm123 wrote:When my daughter did some Xmas shopping over the weekend at Paulina Meat Market, she scored a couple pounds of pork cheek (guanciale) for my usage in bucatini alla' amatriciana.

I have been obsessed with amatriciana since a trip to Italy three years ago, when we had the traditional version at Da Giggetto in Rome's 'Jewish Ghetto'. It was transcendent, the best pasta dish of the whole trip, and that's saying a lot considering we also enjoyed Sicilian red sauce with native olives & capers in Taormina, and tagliatelle with wild boar (cinghiale) in Florence.

I have been told on more than one occasion that Roman amatriciana consists of five ingredients only: olive oil, guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, crushed red pepper & grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Since the trip, I have attempted to reproduce this dish at home using different cuts of pancetta, and admittedly including either minced onion or shallots, or some Italian parsley, trying to get that taste & consistency, which contains not much juice at all, the ingredients nestling atop the firm bucatini. And while my version is tasty and garners rave reviews, it ain't what I remember it to be.

So...my anticipation is high for the guanciale experiment. I will cook it--as described upthread--slowly almost to the point of crispiness. Let's see how close to the sun I can fly...

Paulina Meat Market
3501 N Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 248-6272

http://www.paulinameatmarket.com

Odd: When I inquired about guanciale, just about a month ago, the clerk could not remember what it was. Perhaps I should have asked for pork cheek?

Is the pork cheek cured? If not you might have a little work ahead before you can start cranking out your amatriciana.

EDIT: just an fyi, I was able to find La Quercia guanciale at Eataly.

Argh. Just pulled it outta the freezer to take a look. It's labeled 'Pork Cheek Meat', 2.1 pounds, $7.50/lb. Doesn't look like it's cured or spiced at all. Looks like I got the raw product, but that's OK I guess. Thanks for the heads-up, Alek.

So...what would y'all do to transform this into amatriciana-able status? I will do reading on my own as well...

-------

EDIT: OMG. Just looked at this process for curing pork cheek:

http://www.carllegge.com/2013/05/how-to-make-guanciale-cured-pork-cheek/

That sounds like a total P.I.T.A. What if I smoked it on my Weber Smoker?

jnm123 wrote:Argh. Just pulled it outta the freezer to take a look. It's labeled 'Pork Cheek Meat', 2.1 pounds, $7.50/lb. Doesn't look like it's cured or spiced at all. Looks like I got the raw product, but that's OK I guess. Thanks for the heads-up, Alek.

So...what would y'all do to transform this into amatriciana-able status? I will do reading on my own as well...

It's one of the easier things to cure and only takes a few weeks. There are a bunch of nice blog posts on the subject and may even be a thread here somewhere.

http://frombellytobacon.com/2010/04/06/ ... guanciale/
http://butchersapprentice.wordpress.com ... guanciale/

bean wrote:Odd: When I inquired about guanciale, just about a month ago, the clerk could not remember what it was. Perhaps I should have asked for pork cheek?

I've always thought of Guanciale as being made from the jowl rather than the cheek. It is also cured and dried, rather than being just cheek meat.