Word of the Week: Pancetta

My work-in-progress home-cured pancetta. This picture shows my 3-day-old pancetta. It should be ready in about another 7 days.

Pancetta, an Italian word pronounced pan-share-ta, is simply Italian bacon. It is typically cured in salt and spices such as nutmeg, peppercorns and garlic. 

I am in the midst of experimenting with my first home-cured pancetta as I write this post. Check out where I'm at on this culinary experiment and what I cured mine with - click here. I wanted to do this because I want to be very sure what I'm eating, and what I'm feeding the family with. The bacon I get from the stores come with unpronounceable ingredients and a long list of suspicious-sounding chemicals. Plus the salt content is usually too high for my taste and liking. So, we shall see what I end up on my experiment, if I don't die from botulism!

Check out my Word of the Week posts to date. It includes Asian culinary terms as well. Hope you enjoy it.