Prosciutto Vs. Pancetta

Recreating dishes from Italian restaurants at home can be enjoyable if you know the products to use. The list of ingredients can seem confusing. Prosciutto and pancetta are both popular ingredients in Italian cooking. Discover what they are and why they are being used, and if one really is better than the other.

Prosciutto

Prosciutto di Parma, or Prosciutto from Parma in Italy, is perhaps the most well known. Prosciutto history dates back to ancient Rome. Prosciutto takes its name from Latin, meaning "dried up." It begins as the hindquarter of a pig. The ham is heavily salted and air dried. Then covered with lard, the ham continues to cure for up to two years. A very important difference between prosciutto and other ham is that prosciutto is cured, but it is not smoked.

Pancetta

Pancetta is also a pork product. It, however, comes from the pig's belly. The name comes from Latin meaning, "little belly". It is very simple to cure and generally a quick process. It is heavily salted and sometimes spiced. Various regions use their own spice blends. It then cures for 15 to 20 days in the salt in spice mixture. To finish the curing process, the pancetta hangs and air dries for two weeks to a month. It usually is sold rolled, but can be flat as well.

Uses

Typically, prosciutto is seen served uncooked. Sliced thin for addition to antipasto platters is a common way to serve it. Other popular uses include wrapping the thin slices around fresh dates and slices of melon for that sweet and salty flavor. Pancetta is generally cooked and used for flavoring dishes. Its fat renders to lend that salty spiced taste to anything added to the pan. One of the more popular dishes for pancetta use is pasta carbonara.

Comparison

Both prosciutto and pancetta are air dried, cured but not smoked. Prosciutto does not need to be cooked. If sliced thin from the deli, it is as simple as laying on a platter for service. Often described as buttery, prosciutto has a tender flavor. Pancetta has a higher fat content and needs to be cooked. Rendering pancetta adds a salty base of flavor. Some of the spiced pancetta even lends itself to being spicy.

Substitutions

If you cannot find prosciutto, there are some substitutes. Serrano ham, from Spain, is similar in preparation and tastes somewhat like prosciutto. Virginia ham, or country ham, can also replace prosciutto if needed. It is less delicate in texture, but this is a salt-cured ham as well. Look for a manufacturer that does not use smoke as well for the closest in taste comparison. Pancetta replacements are harder to come by. The closest option would be salt pork, but is not a great equivalent. American bacon is the most likely alternative, but the smoke flavor definitely changes the overall taste of the dish. Try using maple or apple-wood-cured bacon for a bit milder flavor when exchanging it for pancetta in recipes.

References

• Italian Made
• Cook Think
• Merriam Webster