Guanciale

Guanciale is one of those ingredients that can completely change the way you make pasta. Traditionally made from pork jowl, it's exceptionally rich, beautifully fatty and prized in Italian cooking for the incredible flavor it develops as the fat slowly renders.

Ours is seasoned with sea salt, cherry powder, maple sugar, cinnamon and clove, giving the rich heritage pork a distinctive savory flavor with subtle warmth from the spices.

What Is Guanciale?

Guanciale is an Italian-style preparation of pork jowl — the cheek and jowl area of the pig. Compared with belly bacon or Pancetta, jowl has its own distinctive balance of meat and rich fat that makes it especially well suited to traditional Italian dishes.

We also make Hickory Smoked Jowl Bacon from this same part of the pig, but the two products are prepared very differently. Our Jowl Bacon is made as a simple-ingredient smoked bacon, while Guanciale is seasoned in the traditional Italian style.

The Classic Choice for Carbonara

Cut the Guanciale into small pieces and cook it slowly until the fat renders and the edges become beautifully browned and crisp. That rendered fat becomes an essential part of the sauce rather than something to discard.

It's the classic choice for dishes such as carbonara and amatriciana, but it's equally useful in pasta sauces, beans, soups, vegetables and anywhere you want an intensely rich pork flavor.

Guanciale vs. Pancetta

Both are Italian-style pork preparations, but they come from different cuts. Pancetta is made from pork belly, while Guanciale comes from the jowl. Guanciale is richer and fattier, giving it a distinctive texture and flavor when rendered slowly.

Raised Differently

Our heritage breed pigs spend their lives outside in our fields and woods, where they're free to root, forage, explore and wallow.

They naturally forage on grasses, clover, roots, berries, nuts and whatever else they find throughout the seasons. Alongside what they forage, they're supplemented with a nutritionally balanced organic feed made without corn or soy.

We raise them slowly, give them plenty of space, and never use antibiotics, hormones or vaccines.

Package Size

½ lb per package.

Ingredients

Pork, Sea Salt, Cherry Powder, Maple Sugar, Cinnamon, Clove, Celery Juice Powder.