Hobbyko's style of pancetta tesa Monti dei Nebrodi

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg pork belly without bones and dewlap, cartilage and rind remains
• 35 g curing salt
• 2 g cane sugar, brown
• 1 ½ g oregano, shredded
• 1 ½ g fennel seeds, wild Sicilian
• 15 ml Balsamic vinegar, white
• 1 ½ cloves garlic

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest period approx. 40 days; Total time approx. 40 days 1 hour

The normal, authentic “Pancetta Monti dei Nebrodi,” however, is rolled and called “La Pancetta arrotolata dei Monti Nebrodi” and is made from the belly meat of black pigs. Unfortunately, this type of meat is unavailable here in Germany, hence the name “Pancetta Monti dei Nebrodi” (a type of meat). I got the seasoning ingredients from the internet, unfortunately without a precise recipe, and then mixed them together as I saw fit. Preparation: Debone and trim the pork belly. Weigh and mix the spices and salt. Peel and finely chop the garlic and spread it on the pork belly side. Fold over a large, long vacuum-sealed bag to about 5-6 cm at the top. The bag I used measured 30 x 50 cm. Preparation: Pour the salt and spice mixture into a bowl and roll the meat in it, tossing it on all exposed sides. This process, until it’s time to bag it, must be done very quickly. Place the seasoned meat in the bag, add the rest from the bowl, and pour in the vinegar. Vacuum seal immediately. Let it cure in the refrigerator at 4-6°C for 6-8 days, massaging it daily. Then remove from the vacuum seal, rinse under a very gentle stream of lukewarm water, pat dry with kitchen paper, thread a sausage string through it, tie it, and coat it thoroughly in a mixture of fine and coarse pepper, chili, a little wild Sicilian fennel, and oregano, making sure all the empty interior areas where the bones were removed are thoroughly coated with the seasoning. Then hang it up and air-dry for at least 1-1.5 months. Check it frequently. Spray any areas where the seasoning hasn’t adhered as well with juniper schnapps and apply the seasoning. A recipe and picture story can also be found in the Sausage and Smoking Forum: http://www.chefkoch.de/forum/2,70,568905/Hobbyko-s-Art-der-Pancetta-tesa-Monti-dei-Nebrodi-eine-Rezept-und-Bildergeschichte.html