Licini Guanciale

An excellent product.....good value for the price. Flavor is amazing.....I've ordered a few times and the quality has been consistent. When it arrives I slice it into 1/4" thick slices, wrap individually in parchment and then plastic wrap and a freezer safe bag. It defrosts enough in less than a half hour to dice for Carbonara etc...

Lets face it - the internet was made for home chefs. Availability of great world-wide products gives all of us the chance to make great dishes. From rural AR I watch Food Network and see all these great dishes knowing my ability to find any of the key ingredients locally is not going to happen. Then comes Amazon - subbing bacon for this is nothing close. The flavor of slow rendered Guanciale is not duplicative. Either you have it or you have something totally different. What I like about this is I cut off a hunk then vacuum pack the remainder. Then another hunk when needed. It is so flavorful and rich that a small piece goes so far with pasta dishes.

This arrived 3 days early! It arrived well packed with a cold pack and insulated. Guanciale is soooo good, I end up eating it right out of the pan. I typically use it in Carbonara and Rigatoni all’Amatriciana. I bet it would be good in a Kale salad as well. The price went up $5.00 since I bought one a few months ago. If it increases again I will have to quit buying it an look locally.

I would give 5 stars if the product would have come better cooled. Other than that great value for delicious carbonara!

Yes you can use pancetta or god forbid, bacon but the guanciali really makes a difference. This one is a good amount at a reasonable price. I cut two or three slices, then cut them lengthwise, bunch that up and cut them up into small diced pieces. The rest can be kept in the freeaer. When you put this in a skillet use a low heat and don't leave the kitchen because it will burn easily almost like garlic! If you're doing carbonara then this is the way to go.

I’m no stranger to guanciale and bought this for a bucatini alla’Amatriciana. Guanciale should have a rich pork flavor and salty richness and this junk had none of that. Zero flavor. It’s actually amazing just how little flavor was in this stuff. Like some plastic imitation. This stuff was of shockingly poor quality. It made the dish worse. Also sodium erythorbate is not what I want in my food. I’d like to give negative stars for just how bad this was. Like textured paraffin.

My mediocre review might speak more to my opinion of guanciale in general as much as this particular brand. The meat doesn't look, smell, or taste as appetizing as all the other alternatives that they tell you not to buy: pancetta, bacon, ham. I'm a pretty good cook and faithfully followed a well-regarded recipe for bucatini alla'matriciana, which called explicitly for this product. The result was definitely tasty, but I didn't find the taste or texture (which are supposed to be unique qualities that only guanciale brings to the table) to be exceptional and, frankly, I think it was a bit mediocre, hence the rating. Maybe other brands of guanciale taste better, but at these prices I don't care to find out, and will likely roll with bacon, even although the world says that's wrong. I mean, seriously - how can bacon ever be wrong?

Authentic italian !