What is the difference between pancetta and streaky bacon

Just be careful not to overcook it and cause the muscle and fat to seize up and turn rubbery. You may think you know bacon, but how do we get it? The bacon we most often encounter in the U. This streaky bacon, also known as side bacon, features layers of fat alternating with layers of muscle that run parallel to the skin of the pig, also called the rind.

Bacon can also be sourced from the back, collar, shoulder, and jowls. In the U. Oftentimes, the bacon featured most prominently at the grocery store contains unhealthy compounds like nitrates and nitrites for color and extended shelf-life.

Bacon without these compounds are often carried by some grocery stores, but they can be more difficult to find. ButcherBox bacon , on the other hand, is sourced from heritage-breed pigs.

Instead, pork belly is the whole slab cut from the fleshy underside of a pig. Streaky pork bacon is cut from this slab. Pork belly is unsmoked and uncured, while much bacon found in the U. Saved Add to List Add to List. Add Recipe Note. Most Popular. Classic Tomato Soup Recipe. Potato Gnocchi Recipe. Osso Buco Recipe. Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe. Private Notes Edit Delete. Comments Leave a Comment. Leave A Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Member ID.

Featured Review. What We're Cooking Now. Menu A Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner. Menu A Cozy Fall Brunch. Some bacon is then smoked. Factory bacon can be as much as 14 per cent water by weight.

Pancetta is made by rubbing pork bellies with salt and perhaps some spices. The bellies are left for a week, during which time moisture is drawn from the flesh and some of the salt absorbed into the meat. The salt is then washed off, the bellies rolled and then hung to air dry for a month or so. During this time, some protein breaks down and turns into amino acids, which act as natural flavour enhancers.

Pancetta has less moisture than bacon and is quite a deal saltier. Order thick slices from the delicatessen, chop into cubes, and fry off in a little oil to start slow-cooked dishes where they act like nature's stock cubes. It's all about the starch that has leached from the pasta into the cooking water. When heated in water, the starch particles absorb water and swell up and soften in a process called gelatinisation. Italian home cooks have, for a long time, spooned in some of this starchy water to the pasta sauce to change the mouthfeel, giving the sauce a smoother texture.