Pancetta & Guanciale

I must say... what a pity that these two beauties are not available in Singapore! I have been missing them for so long, and finally I managed to put my hands on them on a trip to New York.
Pancetta and guanciale are two fundamental ingredients for Italian cooking. There are a number of sauces and dishes that cannot be accomplished without these beautiful pieces of meat.

Pancetta (the round one in this picture), as the name suggests, is cured pork belly. It can be eaten as a cold cut with bread, but mostly it is used for cooking, diced in small or larger pieces.
Guanciale (the left one in the picture) is cured pork cheek. It is even fatter than pancetta, and used to start off wonderful sauces such as Amatriciana, Carbonara or Bolognese. Sometimes pancetta is used in place of guanciale to cook these dishes due to availability,  however guanciale is even tastier than pancetta and has a different type of fat. Harder when raw, and once cooked you will notice that the fat of guanciale becomes transparent, while the pancetta fat remains white and solid.

In conclusion, if you like any of the sauces mentioned in this post (these are the most popular dishes, but of course there are other ones), try to put your hands on guanciale if you get a chance to travel abroad. And if you are unsure how to use it, bring me a piece of it, and I will be happy to show you ;)

Italian Cheeses 1: Scamorza e Primosale

I bought these two varieties of Italian cheese from Quattro Stagioni.
Scamorza cheese is a cow milk cheese from south Italy. It can be either smoked or unsmoked, and I bought the smoked variety. I am not crazy for this cheese on its own, but I like it when grilled and paired with classic Italian products such as sun dried tomatoes, olives, preserved mushrooms or Parma ham.
I lightly grilled this on a frying pan and complemented it with strips of sun dried tomatoes. I will do this again. A well spent $4.10!

Primosale is a type of Pecorino cheese (Italian goat cheese) salted and aged for only about a month. Silky and tender in texture, its relatively simple flavour pairs a very mild saltiness with a hint of sourness. Definitely recommended to those who like fresh cheeses. As always, this is best enjoyed at room temperature, so let it rest outside the fridge for at least 15-20 minutes before savouring.
Unfortunately it is quite expensive, as I paid $5.90 for a a very small slice.

Quattro Stagioni Deli

Unfortunately, Quattro Stagioni is now CLOSED.

I have been patronizing this little Italian delicatessen located at the basement of Liang Court for about a month or so, and I believe it deserve some attention. As a matter of fact, I haven't found another deli quite like this one anywhere else in Singapore. The variety and authenticity of the products they offer and the freshness of the dairy products is quite extraordinary for this corner of the world.


Their repertoire of products and ingredients ranges from authentic Italian salt for making pasta to fresh "treccia di mozzarella di bufala", from niche Italian spirits like Aperol to good quality pastas. In particular, as far as I know, they are the only ones in Singapore you can by bottarga from.

If you are Italian in Singapore, you will definitely love this place. You will be able to find some of those nostalgic products you have been missing since your last trip to Italy, or a good replacement for those "compromise" products you had to utilise when cooking Italian food in Singapore. If you are simply a fan of Italian food and products, then drop by this place. I especially recommend trying their cheeses!

La Bottarga

If you are ever going to visit Italy, or even if you are travelling to Europe, that might be your best chance to buy this delicacy. Bottarga is a typical product from Sardegna that gained popularity beyond its original region over the past 25 years. Unfortunately, to date I am not aware of an outlet where bottarga can be bought in Singapore.
This is a fairly expensive product, priced at about 10 euros for 100gr. However, it's worth every penny.
There are 2 varieties of Bottarga: Muggine (grey mullet) and Tonno (tuna). The best one in my opinion is the Muggine bottarga, because of its delicate flavour. Bottarga is nothing but the eggs of the fish, treated and dried. The texture is soft and the flavour subtly fishy.
Funnily enough Bottarga can also be purchased in Japan or Taiwan, as they have their own equivalent! The exact same product is called Karasumi in Japan, and it is a typical product of Kyushu. Having tried both, I would say that Bottarga is sweeter while Karasumi is darker and has a slightly smoky flavour.

This wonderful delicacy can be enjoyed in various ways, however it is most commonly eaten fresh, thinly sliced with bread and either butter or olive oil.
The other way to enjoy Bottarga is on pasta, and I have already posted the recipe on this blog. In order to have Bottarga on pasta, it is highly recommended that you 'age' it by storing it in a refrigerator removed from its vacuum package and wrapped in kitchen paper for about a month. Should you come across a place in Singapore where this can be bought your advice will be very welcome, otherwise do buy one of these on your next trip to Italy, Europe, Japan or Taiwan!