Find out where to buy guanciale to make a real carbonara

The growing popularity of pasta carbonara has highlighted an ingredient that, until recently, was rare to find in São Paulo: guanciale.

In recent years, the seasoned and cured cut, which combines the pork jowl and the cheek (in Italian, guancia di maiale means pork cheek), went from being a delicacy known to few to becoming the flagship of artisanal charcuterie.

Founder of Frigorifico Cancian, Aguinaldo Cancian cured the first guanciales, just over 15 years ago, at the request of chef Sergio Arno, who complained about the lack of the product in the São Paulo market — even imported ones rarely arrived here. Demand, he remembers, was limited to a few more purist Italian chefs, who insisted on preparing carbonara properly.

“I couldn’t even put it on sale in the markets. It was only during the pandemic, when everyone started cooking more at home, that people discovered that carbonara should be made with guanciale. Now, everyone wants it”, says Cancian, whose products are available on their own e-commerce and have already reached large marketplaces, such as Mercado Livre and Shopee.

Egon Jais, from Jais Handmade, learned the recipe from chef Sauro Scarabotta and has also seen the product change its status since 2020. The first pieces were sold at gastronomic fairs and production did not exceed 20 kilos per month. Today, it reaches 500 kilos per month — restaurants keep 90% of the stock.

Cured for around 60 days, the product is seasoned with rosemary, fennel, black pepper and juniper. There are two lines: the regular one, with Duroc pork, and a special one with black pork, the one chosen by Diego Belda, who opened the Imbuia bar in October, in Pinheiros. The product is included in the finishing of the squid carbonara (R$54), which also includes charcoal-roasted peach palm, squid and the butifarra sausage.

“As the black pig’s jowl is thicker, I leave it to mature for 120 days. But I’ve tried curing it for up to 9 months. It was even painful to cook afterwards, it was good to serve sliced”, says the charcutier.

Experts differ regarding the seasoning of guanciale. An Italian living in São Paulo for 32 years, Sandro Giovannone, founder of Spazio Lab, has always been passionate about spices. In addition to salt and black pepper, the mix contains brown sugar, thyme, cloves, anise, lemon pepper, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic and onion powder. “It’s a tropicalized product, because Brazilians like more seasoning”, he explains.

Recently, however, he developed a milder version at the request of Márcio Shihomatsu, from Pasta Shihoma. On the restaurant’s new menu, the cut is an ingredient in tonnarelli all’arrabbiata (R$85). At Shihoma Deli, the same pasta recipe with carbonara sauce (R$ 98) is included.

“The product I made for him is like the Italian one. It only contains salt, black pepper and a little pepperoni”, says Giovannone.

Chef of Fame, Italian Marco Renzetti, makes his own guanciale and also leaves out the spices. The thin slice that finishes the charcoal-roasted pork with mushrooms only contains salt and black pepper. Cure takes 180 days.

“The acidity and perfume of the pepper are essential for the carbonara, while the matriciana sauce needs to highlight the peperoncino. It’s a noble cut, I want to feel the flavor of the animal. Excessive herbs steal the spotlight from what really matters”, he argues.

The concentration of fat, which must be high to melt and make the carbonara sauce unctuous, also divides charcutiers. César Stoer, from Coldsmoke, buys jowls from pigs raised on farms because, according to him, customers prefer the proportion of layers of meat to be a little higher than that of fat.

Seasoned with a mix of five spices and aged for 90 days, its pieces are already the best-selling item in the portfolio. “In the beginning of charcuterie, bacon surpassed in volume, but it was overtaken by guanciale. I now produce 3 tons per month”, he celebrates.

There may be disagreements regarding the percentage of fat and seasonings, but all charcutiers and chefs, including Italian chefs, are unanimous on one point: unlike bacon, which is smoked, guanciale is a cured cut, does not undergo smoke and its quality is directly linked to the curing time, which must be prolonged. Therefore, it costs more than bacon.

According to Giovannone, it’s good to be wary of guanciales that are too cheap. “There are people speeding up the process with smoking. In addition to changing the flavor, it doesn’t have the same yield, because the fat doesn’t melt as much. You end up needing a lot more guanciale to get the same amount of melted fat”, he warns. And the essential thing about carbonara, he adds, is that delicious oil that releases in the pan.

Where to buy

• Cancian (loja.cancian.com.br): R$ 53 (200 g, sliced) and R$ 58 (250 g, piece)
• Coldsmoke (coldsmoke.com.br): R$ 42.50 (200 g)
• By Paula Charcuterie (depaulacharcuterie.com.br): R$42 (150 g) and R$129 (450 g piece)
• Jais Handmade (jais.com.br/loja): R$ 73 (250 g, Duroc pork) and R$ 300 (1 kg, black pork)
• Salumeria Mayer (@salumeriamayer): R$ 195 per kilo
• Holy Cleaver (santocutelo.com.br): R$ 38 (150 g)
• Space Lab (@spazio_laboratorio): R$ 125 (500 g)