The processing
Pancetta affumicata (a kind of smoked bacon) is made from the belly fat part of the pig and alternates white parts - the fat - with red veins - the muscle. Processing involves salting, seasoning with herbs and pepper for flavor, and a cold smoking process using fir or beech wood. Hot smoking, on the other hand, involves temperatures of 80 degrees minimum. Curing is completed over a period of one week to a few months.
The pairings
Try it in pasta, preferably garganelli, with saffron and celery, cut into cubes. Widely used in carbonara, especially with spaghetti; valuable in dumpling batter or flavoring side dishes, such as roast potatoes or “smalzade,” but also in meat and potato casserole, or with beef strips in red wine. When sliced, it can garnish and wrap skewers, rolls, cutlets, or be enjoyed with scrambled eggs and omelets. In raw salads or with stewed peas, it is unbeatable. On the cutting board, thinly sliced, it goes perfectly with the mountain bubbles of Trentodoc.