Guanciale

Guanciale is an Italian cured meat made from pork jowl or cheek, seasoned with salt, pepper and sometimes herbs, then air dried for several weeks without smoking. It is a foundational ingredient in Roman cooking, used in classic pasta dishes such as carbonara, amatriciana and gricia, prized for rendering a rich, fatty, distinctively flavored liquid when cooked that dishes made with pancetta or bacon do not fully replicate. Guanciale differs from pancetta, which is made from pork belly rather than the jowl, giving guanciale a higher fat content and a more delicate texture once cooked.