Little known facts on: Pancetta and Prosciutto

Pronounced Pan-chet-ta and pro-SHU-to, these two delicious Italian meats are barely known to Americans. What are they, you may ask? Well let's start with Pancetta. Pancetta is to Italians as bacon is to Americans. It is pork that has been salt cured, seasoned and then is left to dry cure for about three months. Every region of Italy has Pancetta, but it is a regional flavor in the region of Corsica. Pancetta will often come in discs, especially outside of Italy. But in Italy itself it comes in strips, like our bacon. Prosciutto, though also made from pork, is much different, as it is like our ham. It almost always in reference to dry-cured hams, and comes mostly the Parma region, also the home of parmigiano cheese. Prosciutto can take up to 8 months to cure, in some recipes. So those are the little known facts of the day. See you later!