Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [18]
7. Allow the bacon to cool to room temperature (try a piece now though, straight out of the oven—it’s irresistible; remember that end pieces may be a little more salty than the rest). Once it is cool, wrap well and refrigerate.
8. When the bacon has chilled, slice off a small piece, gently cook, and then taste for flavor and seasoning. If the bacon has cured too long and is too salty, it’s unfortunate but fixable; blanching the bacon in simmering water for 1 minute before cooking it, will reduce the salt content considerably. Blanched bacon also tends to crisp up especially well, and lardons are best blanched before being sautéed, because of the same reason, regardless of salt content. If you will be using the bacon in stews, though, you don’t need to blanch; just be cautious when seasoning the stew.
9. Refrigerate again until ready to use. The bacon will keep for 1 to 2 weeks refrigerated. If you don’t plan to use it all during that time, cut it into slices, lardons, and/or chunks, wrap it well, label and date it, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Yield: 21⁄2 to 4 pounds/1.25 to 2 kilograms bacon; 12 to 16 servings
PANCETTA
Pancetta is an Italian bacon and a delicious ingredient used in many of that country’s dishes. Like the Fresh Bacon (page 41) it’s simply pork belly cured with salt and seasonings, which is then rolled into a log and hung to dry for a couple weeks. It’s typically thinly sliced or diced and sautéed, then combined with sautéed vegetables. Countless recipes begin with the gentle sautéing of onions and other aromatic vegetables; precede this step by sautéing diced pancetta, and you’ll add a layer of great complexity to the dish. The classic Roman dish spaghetti alla carbonara is made with sautéed pancetta and eggs. Chunks of pancetta can be added to stews, beans, and soups. Cabbage and Brussels sprouts are superb when sautéed with pancetta.
Marcella Hazan, in The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, notes that pancettas “savory-sweet unsmoked flavor has no wholly satisfactory substitute.” She suggests rolling it up in veal scaloppini, then sautéing the rolls in butter and serving them with a tomato sauce, or sautéing it with spring peas (a traditional preparation), or braising Boston lettuce with it.
The traditional process of curing and drying pancetta takes about three weeks, but variations here are a matter of taste. You can reduce the drying time to two or three days, or eliminate it altogether (the pancetta will still taste delicious when cooked). You could also choose not to roll it and use it as is, treating it as you would fresh bacon.
One 5-pound/2.25-kilogram slab pork belly, skin removed
THE DRY CURE
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons/12 grams pink salt
2 ounces/50 grams kosher salt (1⁄4 cup)
2 tablespoons/26 grams dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons/40 grams coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons/10 grams juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small sauté pan
4 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon/4 grams freshly grated nutmeg
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
1. Trim the belly so that its edges are neat and square.
2. Combine the ingredients for the cure in a bowl, reserving half of the black pepper, and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.
3. Place the belly in a 2-gallon/8-liter Ziploc bag or in a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. Refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day (a process called overhauling).
4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it’s cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 to 2 more days.
5. Remove the belly from the bag or container, rinse it thoroughly under cold water, and pat it dry. Sprinkle the meat side