Smoked Alsace Pancetta

A smoked pancetta from Alsace — pork belly from free-range pigs fed on wild herbs and grass, cured with spices, salt, and sugar, then smoked over oak wood for two full days. This is a deeply smoky, boldly flavoured pancetta with a firm texture and a dark, burnished exterior that tells you exactly how long it has spent in the smokehouse. It is a fundamentally different product from a lightly smoked Italian pancetta — the oak smoking gives it an intensity and a savoury depth that makes it the natural choice for hearty cooking.

The pork quality is the foundation. Free-range pigs on a diet of wild herbs and grass produce belly with good fat cover, clean flavour, and the kind of structure that holds up to a long cure and a heavy smoke without becoming dry or overly salty. The result is a pancetta that is smoky, firm, and well-balanced — with enough character to carry a dish on its own.

This is a fridge staple. Dice it into lardons for pasta sauces, fry it with onions and garlic as the base for stews and braises, roast it alongside vegetables, or crisp it and crumble it over anything that needs a hit of smoky, salty pork. It works particularly well in carbonara if you find Italian guanciale too fatty — the firmer texture and bolder smoke give a different but equally satisfying result.

Origin: Alsace, France

Ingredients: Pork belly (free-range), spices, salt, sugar, oak-smoked

Storage: Refrigerate at 0–4°C.