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Here's a pic from my most recent pancetta tesa. When I was curing it, I mistakenly thought my jar of allspice berries were actually juniper berries, and since it was late at night and I had everything basically ground and mixed (I usually do the juniper last), I decided to give it a go without them. I didn't think it was that important of a spice for the cure, but apparently I was wrong. I used pepper, crushed red pepper, and crushed bay leaves for drying, but it just tastes like pork and pepper. Something was definitely missing.

For the cure I used the following, which is from Jason Molinari's blog:

Pork: 2099g
Salt: 49.98g
Black pepper: 38.98g
Brown sugar: 23.99g
Cure #2: 5.5g
Bay leaves: 1.5g
Nutmeg: 4g
Dry thyme: 2.5g
Garlic: 5 cloves

Missing was 9g of Juniper.

It did make me consider my spice choices, however, and sadly reinforced my fear of trying something new for the cure. I like the end product of the above, so I might stick with that.

And while I sometimes adjust the amounts of the above ingredients for the cure, I've always only used the same spices for drying (black pepper, red pepper, bay leaves) and I'm wondering if it's worth trying out some other herbs or spices ... Anyone have suggestions on some alternatives?

I have some suggestions, based solely on my personal preferences.

Either skip everything except salt, sugar and pepper, or go for juniper and bay leaves. Or if you use the recipe above, reduce the amount of spices by a factor ten. Skip the nutmeg since it's penetrating. Never use cloves, allspice or cinnamon - not even in minute amounts - for the same reason. IMO it's the taste of the meat itself that should dominate.

Nice picture, BTW! Looks delicious.

You could try Larbo's orange one:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=#38804

Phil

Agree with Grisell about cloves and cinnamon in any quantity, they overwhelm. I never use either.

Scotty2 wrote:Agree with Grisell about cloves and cinnamon in any quantity, they overwhelm. I never use either.

If used properly they enhance and do not overwhelm. Any spice or herd that is used to excess will overwhelm.

BriCan wrote:

Scotty2 wrote:Agree with Grisell about cloves and cinnamon in any quantity, they overwhelm. I never use either.

If used properly they enhance and do not overwhelm. Any spice or herd that is used to excess will overwhelm.

Disagree. Ive used them both at bare minimal amounts. Clove especially came through. Sorry, Bri.

Scotty2 wrote:

BriCan wrote:

Scotty2 wrote:Agree with Grisell about cloves and cinnamon in any quantity, they overwhelm. I never use either.

If used properly they enhance and do not overwhelm. Any spice or herd that is used to excess will overwhelm.

Disagree. Ive used them both at bare minimal amounts. Clove especially came through. Sorry, Bri.

Was it whole pieces of clove, or ground clove? I suppose ground could penetrate the meat a bit more. I've made some liqueurs before and clove is something that is usually used in really small quantities.

wheels -- thanks for the link! That orange sounds pretty great.

I have some dried lavender here that I'm aching to do something with. I'm currently infusing some oil with it to see how it pairs with this pancetta in antipasto setting. If it works, I might try trying with a little bit mixed in.

Thanks for the tips!

You will probably have the same problem with lavender. It will come out tasting like soap. Be careful

Scotty2 wrote:You will probably have the same problem with lavender. It will come out tasting like soap. Be careful

I can testify to this!!

(Like just about every Berlin Reed combination I ever tried! )

Scotty2 wrote:You will probably have the same problem with lavender. It will come out tasting like soap. Be careful

Might be worth taking that comment and running with it ...

In soap making, as far as essential oils go for aroma, lavender is considered a middle note, so maybe using something like coriander as the bottom note and clove or ginger as the top note may be interesting. Alone the lavender might be soapy, but maybe in conjunction with some specific spices it could work well.

Or ... maybe that'll just make it taste even more like soap.

In what way did you try lavender before, Scotty2/quietwatersfarm?

I have some rather misshapen pieces of pork belly that are a few days overdue to start drying. I think I might do a little experimenting.

Well, I guess I was wrong about this batch. I had sold a few pounds to a chef in town who wanted to try some and he said he sold out in a weekend and wants some more.

He was just using thin slices with some local honey, fresh bread, and vegetable flowers (mustard greens, I think -- pretty spicy tasting for a flower!) and selling little tasting plates. It was just a couple of pounds, but usually that lasts me awhile so I'm guessing he made quite a few plates.

I have some that finished curing that needs to be dried, so I'm going to try three or four different mixes of herbs for drying. I'll report back with how it goes!

I want to add a note here about cloves... I read somewhere (and forget where) that you should remove the tiny 'bud' from cloves before crushing. I've been doing this and it makes a big difference, for the better. Gives a more subtle, mellow taste rather than overpowering.

Darius wrote:I want to add a note here about cloves... I read somewhere (and forget where) that you should remove the tiny 'bud' from cloves before crushing. I've been doing this and it makes a big difference, for the better. Gives a more subtle, mellow taste rather than overpowering.

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip!

Looks good to me. I didn't think Lousiana folks could do with so little spices.

Jogeephus wrote:Looks good to me. I didn't think Lousiana folks could do with so little spices.

I'm from New Jersey, originally! Haha.

So, here's the spice blends I tried for the drying:

1) Chinese Five Spice +1: Ground some bay leaf, cinnamon bark, star anise, coriander, all spice (traditional chinese 5 spice) and added some szechuan peppercorns. Smells amazing -- much better than pre-ground mixes I've bought.

2) Absinthe Spices: Ground some coriander, lemon balm (picked and dried from the garden!), star anise, and fennel. These and juniper seem to make up the flavoring herbs in absinthe (a lot of the other herbs are bittering/coloring agents and then something to balance the bitterness). Since there was already juniper in the cure I figured I'd stick with these. It smells fantastic. Just like absinthe! I did this blend because the bar that has been buying the pancetta from me carries a lot of absinthe (and vodka), and I thought it'd compliment them well.

3) Italian mix: Dried and ground some spicy oregano (greek, I think), crushed red pepper, black pepper, and thyme. I had something like this before with some rosemary (my plant died over the past week, so I had none handy) and white pepper that the chef really enjoyed. I also had a piece pork belly that was nice and thin, so I was able to make a little arrotolata with this on the inside of the roll.

4) Experimental: I liked the recommendation for the orange zest, so I did some zest, crushed red pepper (very little bit for some spice), lemon balm, and a very little bit of lavender. It smells really fresh -- hopefully I didn't overdo it with the lemon balm or the lavender. I tried to hold back as best as I could.

I was able to get about 2 good sized pieces for each spice mix (total of 5 lbs of belly). The place I get my pork belly from cuts them into pieces as soon as they get them, and I can never seem to catch them before they do this. If any of these flavors work, though, I might try and get a larger, intact piece.

I'll report back with some photos when they're done!