The last decades, our fellow citizens are very interested in "overseas" recipes and cuisines. This is understandable: for too long the list of available products was very limited and the list of dishes unusual for Slavic cuisine was very limited. That is why everyone enthusiastically eat up sushi, study the difficulties of Chinese cuisine and invent new recipes (or, perhaps, recreate and discover old ones).
Be that as it may, European cuisine is nevertheless closer to us than eastern. On the one hand, the ingredients and cooking methods are more familiar, on the other hand, the taste is “dearer”. Of all the culinary delights made available, the most popular are Italian. No wonder so visited a variety of pizzerias.
The taste of pancetta
If the same pizza or lasagna has already become more or less familiar, if we have already learned to call pasta pasta, this does not mean that we have become connoisseurs of Italian cuisine. Until now, few can answer the question: “Pancetta - what is it?” Meanwhile, many people should like this dish.
First of all, pancetta is one of the varieties of bacon (or bacon with meat streaks). Of course, it is being prepared differently from the usual subtypes. A piece of brisket is necessarily taken quite bold. In addition to being salted, it must subsequently be dried, and in some cases (depending on the area of preparation) also smoked. So to the question of what, pancetta - what is it, it is impossible to find an exact answer: in each locality the taste of this dish will be its own, unique.
Varieties of Pancetta
There are two types of classic Italian pancetta: Piacenza and Calabria. The first, of course, is being prepared (theoretically) only in Piacenza, the second, respectively, in Calabria. Pancetta - what is it in the performance of Piacenza, and what is in Calabrian preparation? Piachenskaya is necessarily pronounced red, the contrast of which is white fatty streaks. Calabria delivers pale pink pancetta, and it takes a month to cook.
Externally, this dish also has two subspecies. If you use the classic recipe, the pancetta will be prepared from rolled brisket brisket, but there are also non-folded, flat options.
Home Pancetta: The First Way
To begin with, far from any store you can buy it. Until now, the vast majority of the population does not even imagine, pancetta - what it is and with what it is eaten. The second subtlety: it is disproportionately expensive. So, think five times: buy Italian "fat" or limit yourself to "bazaar", familiar in taste and more affordable in the price range. However, the pancetta is really tasty, unusual and can be cooked on its own. Moreover, if time is required quite a lot, then money and effort is a very modest amount.
So, how is the pancetta cooked at home? The first option involves garlic (preferably fresh and passed through the press, but dried also), ground black pepper, juniper berries (grind or chop), chop the lavrushka, nutmeg (ground again), thyme - fresh , you can dried (more fresh), sugar, and brown, and, of course, salt.
From the brisket you need to remove the skin, trim evenly, getting a square or rectangle, and rub with a mixture of spices. Then the workpiece is placed in a bag and carefully tied. In this form, the brisket lies in the refrigerator for a week. Every day, it must be turned over and shaken. At the end of the period, the meat is checked: if it has become uniformly elastic everywhere - it is ready, if there are friability left - leave it in the refrigerator for a couple more days.
Then everything is washed, sprinkled with the remnants of pepper, tied with a rope somewhere after 3 cm and hung in a cool, dry place for two weeks.
Home Pancetta: The Second Way
The initial stage of preparation is the same as in the first case. But after the end of salting, the tightly rolled brisket is wrapped in gauze and put in the refrigerator. Usually enough weeks. Advantage: the appearance is more attractive, and the taste of the pancetta is much juicier and more tender. However, with this method, the jerky smack is absent.
As you can see, nothing complicated. And at the same time it is very appetizing. Try it - you'll love it!