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Guanciale!

Brendan_Lee_56950

Here you go @jack, the guanciale is finally done. This is a berkshire pork jowl cured with rosemary and garlic. It was cured and then dried in the fridge on a rack using the UMAI bags that are popular for dry aging steaks at home. This tastes like the best garlic bread ever! The fat is nice and smooth and porky, I'm in love!

My question though, what is the best way to store it after it's been sliced? cryovac it? hang it to dry more?

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seijoed

NIIIIIICE!!!

Chris_Young_80640

Looks really good @Brendan

Brendan_Lee_56950

Had to sharpen my knives to celebrate the occasion and slice it wafer thin! Carbonara may have to happen tonight instead of the white bean and ham hock soup that's on the stove.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

Very nice! Love Guanciale.

~Martin

Jack_Mayer_85396

OMG @B I'll drive from Dallas to Virginia for a handful of slices! I'm so wishing I didn't have a hanger steak in the SVS right now, I want Carbonara! I guess it will have to be tomorrow ... You've inspired me to take a stab at making my own guanciale!

Brendan_Lee_56950

I had to portion it and freeze some because I kept eating it all. It's so rich and buttery. Carbonara is going to have to wait until this weekend though, the white bean stew smelled too good to pass up tonight. I am very interested to see the difference in taste between this one aged in the bags and the one hanging though. I'll post the results this weekend sometime.

tuckatodd

@Brendan Looks Great! All this talk of carbonara has my mouth watering. May have to make soon. Its probably been a couple years, thats pretty sad.

Chris_Cotsapas_68234

Brendan - fwiw I generally portion mine into week-use sizes, vacuum-seal and freeze (ditto lardo). Then you can just pull out a piece when convenient and slice/dice/chop/mince/smear as you see fit at the time. I've pulled out year-old lardo and it's still splendid.

Brendan_Lee_56950

That's what I ended up doing actually.

Mark_Kalynchuk_34927

I suggest a heavy fennel cure next time. It grows wild in Italy and is a very traditional cure for any kind of Salumi.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I debated that, fennel hits me hard sometimes though so I hesitated. I'm still growing on that intense ansie/licorice flavor.

Mark_Kalynchuk_34927

Fair enough, it definitely is an overpowering flavour. None of my current Guanciales have a fennel cure but one of my cappicollos does and I can't wait to cut it from our hanging rack.

Brendan_Lee_56950

I want to do another jowl but treat it like a spanish lomo. I think the rich fat with the spicy rub would go great.

Jack_Mayer_85396

@Brendan, how do I place my order?

FrankM_3301

...not sure where you are all located, but I would love tips on where to source fresh jowl or fatback. I'm in Philly and, while I can get belly and other cuts for making salumi, (though often good fat is even tough to find) I can't seem to track down these cuts. I've called some local farmers, as you probably know, they tell me they don't fatten their pigs enough these days to give me the items I am looking for. Anyway, I would particularly like to get my hands on some heritage breeds. Maybe a mail order source?

DiggingDogFarm_65362

It's likely going to be extremely difficult to find a producer who fattens pork via the "proper" fatty acid profile to produce the best pork (and fat.)

In this country little attention is paid to the proper diet, but in Italy, there are PUFA (poly-unsaturated fatty acid) limits which help ensure the highest quality pork.

I can't think of a mail-order source that fits the bill.

Continue to check locally, hopefully you'll get lucky.

http://www.eatwild.com/products/

http://www.localharvest.org/

~Martin

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Talk to your butchers at places like Whole Foods, where this still do some breaking down of proteins (the Safeway/Kroger type chains breakdown very little). I go into Whole Foods once or twice a week and every time I talk with the fishmongers and butchers, even when I'm not buying proteins and I always shop at non-peak times. From the fishmongers I can get fish bones and heads for curries and stocks. From the butchers I get pork fat, beef bones and occasionally chicken bones and skin. All I pay is a 10-15 conversation every time I go in. As a side bonus I get forewarned when rare items like fresh sardines are coming in.

True fatback is very hard to find fresh. If you visit "Southern" focused markets you will find salted fatback and if you ask around you may get a heads up for fresh stuff.

Brendan_Lee_56950

@frank I order mine from heritagefoodsusa.com they have heritage breeds and source from certified humane farmers. Never had a bad product from them.

Mark_Kalynchuk_34927

All of my pork comes from a local producer. My Chef and I have toured their farm and talked to them. It's all about finding a good, local producer.