gastropod friday – last week

Forgot to note: bought some ace pancetta from nino and joe’s last week, then chopped up a bunch, fried it in virgin olive oil and garlic, added a hydro tomato, then some baby spinach and rocket and a bit of dried chilli. Served with pasta from pasta man, local parmesan on top, and some lovely fresh bread from the mediterranean supermarket.
It was so wonderful i nearly died. Fat? Hell YEAH! We’re not babies here! That pancetta is the serious shit (I’m pronouncing it the way everyone in Brunswick does – pan-che-tta – as I type). It has such a … robust. I have to say robust, even though it’s wanky food talk. It’s saltier and gamey-er than bacon, and has a more full-on flavour than insipid bacony rubbish. You don’t need as much in your dish, and it has a more fierce taste that really works well with stronger flavoured Italian greens or cheeses. I hadn’t cooked it before. It comes in a piece, a bit like spec (specula? that bacony-type thing), sort of like the bit of bacon rashers that’s not the eye. Well, the piece I bought was. It’s darker than bacon, keeps for aaaaages, is kind of greazy but is harder than bacon. I guess it’s cured for longer. One piece cost me $4 (or 6, I forget) and lasted me 2 dinners. Dunno how much it weighed.
The local parmesan is stinking out the fridge.