Glen Ridge Public Library
  • HOME
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
    • Hours & Directions
    • Get Involved >
      • Volunteer
      • Job Openings
    • Board of Trustees
    • 2020 Annual Report
    • 2020-2025 Strategic Plan [pdf]
    • Gifts & Donations
    • Mission & Vision
    • Patron Code of Conduct
  • BORROW
    • Search the Catalog
    • Fine Free FAQ
    • Library Cards & Borrowing >
      • Get a Library Card
      • Requesting, renewing & returning
      • Loan Periods
      • BCCLS & ReBL Libraries
      • Au Pair and Nannies
      • Confidentiality of Patron Records
    • What's New to Borrow? >
      • Books
      • Films & TV
      • Music & Audiobooks
    • Digital Collections >
      • Audiobooks
      • eBooks
      • Magazines
      • Movies
    • Bookshare eBook Accessibility Service
    • Library of Things
    • Wifi Hotspots
    • Book Guides
  • SERVICES
    • Computers & Printing >
      • computer access
      • Print, Copy, Fax & Scan
      • Wireless Printing
    • Genealogy & Local History >
      • Archive & Research Area
      • Local History Database
      • Heritage Quest (from NJ State Library)
      • Submit a Photo to the Archive
    • Homebound Delivery
    • Learn with a Librarian
    • Makerspace
    • Meeting Room
    • Notary Public
    • Online Resources >
      • Digital New York Times
      • Digital Wall Street Journal
      • Jersey Clicks
      • Kanopy Movies
      • NJ DMV Practice Tests
      • Research a Topic
      • Rosetta Stone
      • Tutor.com
      • Universal Class
  • CHILDREN'S & TEENS
    • Children's Activities & Ideas
    • after school clubs
    • Story Time Take Out
    • Storytimes on Demand
    • Safe Child Policy
    • Teen Volunteers
    • Tutor.com
  • CONTACT US
  • Friends of the Library
  • Library Reopening Information
​
Curiosity Corner: at the Intersection of Wonder & Why

PANCETTA vs PROSCIUTTO

3/5/2021

1 Comment

 
 You would think that as the daughter of an Irish-Welsh mother who made AMAZING Italian food that I’d know the difference between PANCETTA and PROSCIUTTO.

Not so. But I'm learning. 

Here’s what I discovered: 

Pancetta is a cured meat made from pork belly and needs to be cooked before eating. Pancetta is Italian for “bacon”.  The key factor is the need to cook it. It’s cheaper, too.
 
Prosciutto is a cured meat, too. It is the Italian word for “ham”. I found there’s a hierarchy of cured ham, and not just Italian, each with its own distinct taste: speck (Italian), jamon serrano and jamon iberico (Spanish), even American prosciutto exists.
​
Spanish jamon iberico is the most expensive and perhaps the rarest of the cured hams listed above. It comes from a special breed of free-range black-skinned pigs native to the Iberian Peninsula. Famously, they forage for acorns in protected oak forests.  This ham costs $100.00 - $200. per pound.

Speck and jamon serrano range from $25.00 to $35.00 per pound.

​But Italy’s prosciutto di Parma is best known.

It’s even named-protected. A combination of factors gives it its distinctive character - location (Parma), the breed and diet of pigs, section of pig used (the hind leg), curing method and length of curing time. It’s all natural, too. The price reflects this tradition-bound method ranging from $22.00 to more than $40.00 pound.

It is one of few hams awarded the elite PDO(Protected Designation of Origin) status from the European Union. 

PDO certifies high quality European foods that are produced using traditional methods in a specific region.

Prosciutto di Parma is fully traced from the birth of the pigs to the final product which is branded with the Parma Crown as a guarantee of authenticity, quality and consistency.

I guess by now you can tell I’ve been taken by both the unique flavor and history of prosciutto di Parma. 
​
No more pancetta for me.

So, next time I make Lidia Bastianich’s recipe for Verza e Prosciutto (braised cabbage with prosciutto) from her cookbook, Lidia’s commonsense Italian cooking: 150 delicious and simple recipes anyone can master, you can bet that I'll go whole hog (no pun intended) and get prosciutto di Parma. Recipe only calls for 3 ounces.  

Sources: 

https://parmacrown.com/

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/10680-pancetta-versus-prosciutto
​
List of Italian cookbooks from our collection:

Picture
The Tucci cookbook: family, friends and food by Stanley Tucci. New York: Gallery Books, 2012.




Picture
Lidia’s commonsense Italian cooking: 150 delicious and simple recipes anyone can master by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Tanya Bastianich Manuali. New York: Knopf, 2015.

Picture
​“Everyone is Italian on Sunday” by Rachael Ray. New York: Atria Books, 2015.

Picture
“Italian moms: something old, something new: 150 family recipes by Elisa Costantini with Frank Costantini. New York: Sterling Epicure, 2018.

Picture
 “This is Sunday dinner: 52 seasonal Italian menus” by Lisa Caponigri. New York: Sterling Epicure, 2018.

​

Picture
“Felidia: recipes from my flagship restaurant” by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich with Chef Fortunato Nicotra and Tanya Bastianich Manuali. New York: Knopf, 2019.

And since salt is crucial to curing meat, you might also want to consider these additional two books from our collection: 

Picture
“Salt: a world history” by Mark Kurlansky. New York: Walker & Co., 2002. (adult book)

Picture
​“The story of salt” by Mark Kurlansky. New York: G.P. Putnam, 2006 (children’s book)

1 Comment
Amy
3/6/2021 05:28:09 pm

I guess I inherently knew that prosciutto and pancetta were two different things, but I didn't know why. Thanks for the lesson.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Curiosity Corner writer & contributor:

    Helen Beckert, Reference Librarian at the Glen Ridge Public Library 

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Library Hours for Holds Pick Up (Grab & Go)
Monday 
9 am - 8 pm
Tuesday 9 am - 8 pm
Wednesday 9 am - 8 pm
Thursday 9 am - 5 pm
Friday 9 am - 5 pm
Saturday 10 am - 3 pm
Library Hours for Inside Visits
Monday 10 am - 3 pm
Tuesday 10 am - 3 pm
Wednesday 2 pm - 7 pm
Thursday 10 am - 3 pm
Friday 10 am - 3 pm
Saturday 10 am - 3 pm

Glen Ridge Public Library
240 Ridgewood Avenue
Glen Ridge, NJ 07028
Phone: 973-748-5482
​Email: glrgcirc@bccls.org
logo
© 2021 Glen Ridge Public Library
Site last updated April 22, 2021
  • HOME
  • MY ACCOUNT
  • EVENTS
  • ABOUT
    • Hours & Directions
    • Get Involved >
      • Volunteer
      • Job Openings
    • Board of Trustees
    • 2020 Annual Report
    • 2020-2025 Strategic Plan [pdf]
    • Gifts & Donations
    • Mission & Vision
    • Patron Code of Conduct
  • BORROW
    • Search the Catalog
    • Fine Free FAQ
    • Library Cards & Borrowing >
      • Get a Library Card
      • Requesting, renewing & returning
      • Loan Periods
      • BCCLS & ReBL Libraries
      • Au Pair and Nannies
      • Confidentiality of Patron Records
    • What's New to Borrow? >
      • Books
      • Films & TV
      • Music & Audiobooks
    • Digital Collections >
      • Audiobooks
      • eBooks
      • Magazines
      • Movies
    • Bookshare eBook Accessibility Service
    • Library of Things
    • Wifi Hotspots
    • Book Guides
  • SERVICES
    • Computers & Printing >
      • computer access
      • Print, Copy, Fax & Scan
      • Wireless Printing
    • Genealogy & Local History >
      • Archive & Research Area
      • Local History Database
      • Heritage Quest (from NJ State Library)
      • Submit a Photo to the Archive
    • Homebound Delivery
    • Learn with a Librarian
    • Makerspace
    • Meeting Room
    • Notary Public
    • Online Resources >
      • Digital New York Times
      • Digital Wall Street Journal
      • Jersey Clicks
      • Kanopy Movies
      • NJ DMV Practice Tests
      • Research a Topic
      • Rosetta Stone
      • Tutor.com
      • Universal Class
  • CHILDREN'S & TEENS
    • Children's Activities & Ideas
    • after school clubs
    • Story Time Take Out
    • Storytimes on Demand
    • Safe Child Policy
    • Teen Volunteers
    • Tutor.com
  • CONTACT US
  • Friends of the Library
  • Library Reopening Information