(photo by wm. christman)
OK, after much worrying about drying times, proper curing, and so on, I finally decided to dive in an hack up the pancetta that had been cured and drying in the refrigerator for the past 4 weeks. (I decided to cold dry it because the weather here has been warm-ish and I thought that might affect the final product...)
Having never made this before, I was concerned that the tight roll that I tied would come undone, but after stripping the pancetta of its butcher-tie, the pancetta held together nicely.
After cutting off the ragged ends (which made a great spaghetti carbonara a few nights later), the crosssection looked tight, dried and layered with peppercorn.
My friend Howard and I sauteed a few thin slices to test the waters. And the results....
(photo by wm. christman)
...were fantastic. It was slightly sweet with a mild pepper sting; the fat rendered very nicely as well. If it were not cured correctly, then we might have gotten ill from eating it but that didn't happen (I did ask several times about stomach distress...) so it was cured (and dried) successfully.
What I'd do next time:
1. Find a better way to cut the skin off before curing
This was a tremendous pain in the ass and the skin didn't come off as cleanly as I had wanted. I guess just practice solves that.
2. Crush the juniper berries a bit finer
After eating from different sections (not all that night of course), I did notice some flavor differences. Maybe a more even handed rub would help.
3. Dry it for another week (refrigerated)
The overall flavor would have benefited from this. The finished product was still really good.
Verdict: Success. And I'll do it again soon.
