SC - Symposium

[Michael F. Gunter]

"Alderton, Philippa" wrote:
> 
> What exactly is pancetta? What about green bacon? How are
> they made and salt cured? Heavily salted, immersed in a brine, then hung?
> I'm assuming by green bacon you don't mean that stuff I found when I cleaned
> out my refrigerator last week ;-)

Pancetta is cured pork belly, like what Americans call "streaky bacon"
or just "bacon". that has been repeatedly rubbed with salt, but not
allowed to build up a brine, nor is it immersed in a  separate brine, as
far as I know. It gets some lactic fermentation going in it as it cures,
but mostly it dries slightly to a sort of waxy texture similar to
prosciutto. It tastes pretty similar to prosciutto but is fattier,
making it a good for rendering to provide cooking fat for other dishes,
while also flavoring the dish. Usually it's rolled up into a spiral and
tied for slicing, so you get kewl little round pinwheel slices. Green
bacon is basically cured as for regular smoked bacon, but not smoked. It
can be either dry-rubbed, dry-rubbed _and_ brined,  or simply brined.
This method seems to have evolved in places that don't have a lot of
wood or other suitable combustibles for smoking. 
 
> >Failing green bacon, how about salt pork? Petit salé? Salt fatback?
> Possibly some kind of corned or brined pork product? If pancetta isn't
> available, how about fatty prosciutto, which isn't too different from
> pancetta in flavor? Failing all of those, maybe you could find a lightly
> smoked bacon without a lot of sugar in the cure. <
> 
> Petit sale ? Fatty prosciutto? I at least know what prosciutto is, but I've
> never seen any I'd call fatty- and if I did, at the price of prosciutto, I
> wouldn't be buying it to render the fat.

Petit sale is is the French version of salt pork; it can be any cut of
the pig or hog, but differs from the usual commercial American salt pork
in that it actually has some muscle meat interspersed in the fat. It is
usually salt-rubbed and a brine is allowed to accumulate, and sometimes
the brine is augmented with wine and spices. 
> 
> Since it seems the substance is hard to come by, might it not make more
> sense if Susan simply  got the fresh fat, salted it down well and air dried
> it herself? Or is this one of those things where it has to age for several
> months or so?

It might take a while. I believe prosciutto is usually cured for
something like 6 months; I imagine pancetta is a similar deal.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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