Thursday, June 4, 2009

Pancetta Arrotolata

A couple of days ago, Cochon Butcher’s salumiere Kris Doll - the man who makes all the meats + sausages at the Butcher – brought Pancetta Arrotolata out of the meat locker: It’s done doing it’s thing and ready to go. But what is it, really?

Pancetta Arrotolata is made from pork belly, just like bacon. However, it’s not smoked, but brined and then rubbed with black pepper and coriander. Once seasoned, the pancetta-to-be gets rolled; ‘arrotolata’ is Italian for ‘rolled’. The big, fat roll is then placed into a net and hung to dry for 2 weeks.

Like Pancetta tesa or flat Pancetta, Cochon Butcher’s Arrotolata can be used as an alternative to bacon. Where bacon lends food its smoky, salty flavors, pancetta – the flat as well as the rolled – brings herbal and peppery flavors to the table.

Salumiere Kris makes a simple Spaghetti Carbonara with it – “the original one”. Cook Spaghetti ‘al dente’ and toss the pasta with egg yolks, pecorino cheese and lightly fried, diced pancetta. Or fry up thinly sliced Arrotolata and serve it with scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast. How about a ‘PLT’ for lunch? Pancetta-lettuce-tomato sandwich sounds really tasty.

1 comment:

  1. If Kris makes all the meats, he's an artist. I look forward to trying the Pancetta. The Calabrese Salami is simply the best ever. I could at pounds of it at a time.

    I look forward to getting back to NOLA and going to Butcher.

    Tim

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