Beef jowl

The Spruce Eats: What Is Guanciale? Beef jowl is an Italian cured meat made from pork cheek.

It is unsmoked and lends a rich, salty, fatty note to pasta and sauces, similar to bacon. Linnea Covington has been writing about food for over a decade. From farmers’ markets to award-winning restaurants, if the eats prove good, she’s there, often trailed by her two young boys. Taken from the cheek of a pig, guanciale is a rich, fatty piece of meat that often gets cured before it’s used. Guanciale is mainly found in Italian pasta dishes from central Italy in areas such as Umbria and Lazio. Though pork cheeks can be obtained raw, most guanciale is cured. Dice up or throw a thin slice of guanciale on the frying pan and let it simmer in its own fat, crisping the bit of meat available.

Since it’s cured, the meat doesn’t have to be cooked. Try it cold and sliced thin on a charcuterie board, sandwich, over greens, and wrapped around vegetables that then get grilled. The meat can add a lot of flavor to any dish without weighing it down, and, since it’s high in fat and rich in taste, a large amount isn’t needed. That’s why guanciale often gets mixed with pasta and sauces. There’s an undertone of bacon to the flavor of guanciale, but without that telltale smoky note.