Two weeks have passed, and I was thinking of letting it age longer, but Jeff emailed me to say his Pancetta (I cured about a 1 lb piece that I had leftover and gave it to him to age) was terrific. I couldn’t resist, so I went out to inspect mine. The fat was still pleasantly moist, but when I touched the muscle exposed to the air, it was as hard as plastic. I figured it had something to do with the humidity, and I decided to cut it down right there so I could put it in a plastic bag with a moist towel to re-moisturize it.

Of course, once I got it inside I HAD TO slice off a piece, right? Well, it was AMAZING!!! As Jeff pointed out later, there is a distinct salty flavor that hangs on a little too long, but other than that it’s tremendous. The pepper is dominant (and next time I won’t use quite as much), but you can get a whiff of the other flavors too: garlic and juniper being the most strident. I can’t wait to try it some different dishes.

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