Pancetta vs. Bacon vs. Prosciutto vs. Speck

Have you tasted all four of these?

While they are often given as substitutes for one another, each one of these meats have a distinct flavor and texture based on which part of the pig they come from and their method of production.

I would recommend tasting them side by side to learn the effects of different processes.

#foodscience #bacon #pancetta #proscuitto #pork

[oyxlzbf]

I learned I should quit eating raw pancetta

[edwood]

I work in a deli and get asked "what's the difference between cured and un-cured?" Pretty often, I answer the same way "cured basically means buried in salt to steal the moisture from the meat so it doesn't spoil, un-cured means less salt but pasteurized for safety" no one is ever satisfied with that answer and I have to explain further...

[notsobright]

Ah yes, the pig meat alignment chart. Exactly what I needed for my next campaign

[monsunoguy]

Didn't expect Zach Effron to teach me about meat cuts

[RevyMorelia]

Interesting to me as an Austrian, because Speck is the german word for bacon and it is used for the belly cut aswell.
In fact, what you have shown as Speck, we'd probably call it "Rohschinken" which literally translates to "raw ham", as it is the ham meat, but cured and not cooked.
The same treatment but on belly meat is what we actually call Speck in german. Or the same product you call bacon.
But it's always difficult when translations and distinct product names come together 😅

(Ps, the "Sp" at the start of the word is pronunced more like "Shp")

[WafeWegu]

Also in Croatia and most of Balkan region we grew up eating bacon raw without cooking it, but it is usually a bit fattier and you always buy that type of bacon from a local, or as you say in US farmers market, and it is amazing.

[shemp]

I'm an old chef and you are the most informative, entertaining, presenter-chef, hands down. Always excellent.

[fusadiluna]

Fun fact: in Italy we call that "prosciutto crudo", "raw prosciutto" as opposed to "prosciutto cotto" (cooked prosciutto), which i think it's very similar to what you call "ham".

[unpassante]

Here in Italy when the pancetta is fresh we even eat it raw, and it's very good! It melts in your mouth.

[aquadragondavanin]

love these informative lil vids!
for me the biggest difference is bacon i can cook to elevate my breakfast and proscuitto is for when i'm too tired to cook but wanna feel Fancy

[marcoanzalone]

To add more from Italy: what you showed is called pancetta coppata, that is different from pancetta tesa (absolutely similar to bacon, except it's not smoked). In my experience both pancetta tesa and coppata are cured meat (salumi) that you always eat raw as they are or in the bread or piadina. There are many confirmations of that on the internet

[robbe-eoko]

Thank you! I just learned something new - that there is italian "speck". As a german, I never knew that existed and was very confused for a moment, because this speck is what we would call "schinken" in Germany, whereas "german speck" is usually from the pig belly or back. 😊
(Some people also call schinken "schinkenspeck", just to make it even more confusing 😂)

[jasertio]

Prosciutto is amazing. If only it wasn't so expensive, I would have it every day 😂

[gilbertmacali]

I see you come up everyonce in a while. I really enjoy your content. Keep doing what you doing

[frohnatur]

Interesting! I'm from Austria, which is the home country of speck, I think, at least there's a lot of speck culture in Tyrol (in Austria), where half my family is from. They put that stuff in everything!

Anyway, even I didn't know that bacon and speck are from different parts. I thought it's the same, and bacon is just not smoked/cured, or less so at least, and comes in thicker slices. That is, if speck is bought in slices anyway. You can of course get it as a whole block too, or diced

Also, and I suspect you might know this and just pronounce it the common English way as to not confuse people, but in German it's actually pronounced like "shpeck"

[Lemmi]

As a German I always thought Bacon ist just the English term for Speck.

[TriggTube]

Pinned comment for the food nerds… whether it's cured or “uncured” the bacon that you buy has been treated with nitrates to help preserve it. The difference is that with “cured” bacons, the nitrates are synthetically produced (I should have said synthetically instead of chemically in the video), whereas “uncured” bacon uses the naturally occurring nitrates in celery or other veggies. The outcome is pretty similar, but “cured” bacon will have a pinker color. There are health claims associated with both techniques, but I couldn't find any solid evidence either way, so I would go by taste, budget, and accessibility.

(Note: In some cases, pancetta can be cut thinly and eaten raw, but it depends... so just be careful and informed)

Also… I know speck is the least common of these four in the USA, but I’ll recommend it as one of my favorites. It normally comes with a dry piece of skin still on the fatty side of the leg, so remove that and dig in. 🐷 That’s all folks!!!

[trishgrant]

It all comes under the general heading of “YUM”!

[EnormeEkoH]

There are few tipes of proscitto, mainly 2 "cotto" and "crudo"

Crudo usually is the one you eat with melon or inside a piadina, while cotto is the one you use for toast.

My personal favourites are prosciutto crudo and speck.
I also love guanciale and porchetta, i love pigs 😅


Love how you are well educated about food, its not the first time that i see you giving great info trough yt shorts.

[free_and_untorn]

Mums been spoiling me with prosciutto ❤🎉