Guanciale

Description: Mister Cannubi Guanciale is made from pork cheeks of larger, older sows. They have big, well-worked muscles with loads of flavour and generous fat cover. At Mister Cannubi, they weigh the cheeks and rub them with just enough salt. After a few days they are cleaned, then hung to dry-cure for eight weeks, over which time some moisture is lost, flavours change and the fat sets into its beautiful, translucent white, buttery texture.

This guanciale is a sublime representation of the art of salume. The marble-white fat surrounds a fine vein of deep-pink muscle. Thinly sliced, it can be draped over hot bread where the heat frees the aromas of sweet pork, young champignons and roasting nuts. It sits on a salume platter as a finely sliced ribbon of decadent pleasure, just waiting to be washed down with a glass of good Italian red wine – even a Barolo. It also makes for the richest carbonara sauce you can imagine.

Also available through our friends at Savour & Grace. www.savourandgrace.com.au

Farm: Western Plains Pork, Mt Mercer.

Breed: Large white, Duroc, Landrace. From mature female pigs.

Ingredients: Pork, salt, spices, chilli.

Shelf life: 5 months.