The King of Pancetta
On my last trip to New Jersey, the US Mecca of Italian deli, I found the King of Pancetta. It is made and sold by Mossuto’s Market in Wall, NJ on the Jersey Shore. The Italian community that used to live in Northern Jersey cities, such as my hometown of Jersey City, has mostly relocated to the Shore as the northern cities devolved into crime and chaos.
Pancetta is cured, but not smoked, pork that is rolled, typically with peppercorns, and then sliced. In DC, the anti-Christ of deli, pancetta is something you buy at the Safeway that resembles sliced ham and put on a sandwich. In Italian New Jersey, and in traditional Italian custom, pancetta is used as lard is– it is rendered in the pan and then used as a fat to brown meat or saute greens such as escarole. The added plus of pancetta over lard, olive oil or butter is that pancetta gives you little bits of meat that get crunchy like bacon and can be used for other purposes or just stay in the pan for extra flavor.
The great thing about Mossuto’s pancetta is that it is mostly fat so renders beautifully and the fat gets much hotter than olive oil so it can brown the hell out of meats, with tons of flavor to boot. If you are looking for a sandwich meat, skip it. If you are looking for a tasty fat to jazz up your soups, stews and ragus, this is the bomb.
For Chowhound’s review of Mossuto’s, go here.
