Pancetta

This traditionally cured Italian unsmoked bacon has become the fashionable choice for restaurants and discerning cooks in recent times, for no better reason than the dire state of our own mass-produced bacon. In Italian production, a 9-kg / 20-lb side will typically be salted for 14 days before being rinsed, dried, boned, rolled and tied, or in some cases, sold as a flat piece. It is then left to rest for another week or two before it can be sold as pancetta.

It is best bought in a piece and will keep unwrapped for a couple of months in the fridge, though it is a good idea to keep the cut end covered. The pancetta will harden with time as it dries, and crystals may appear on the surface, but these are only salt. Look out, however, for any sliminess on the cut surface, as this indicates bacterial contamination. Any pancetta so affected should be cut off and thrown away. The great thing about having bacon in a piece is that you can cut it thickly for lardons to go in stews or in larger pieces to boil or cook as a joint with beans. Cutting thin slices to fry for breakfast is not so easy, particularly as pancetta dries and hardens with keeping. See also Italian Cured Meats and Sausages.