Salumi bleg

Who doesn't love cured meats (apart from vegetarians)?

(image courtesy of Flickr user Tashian via Wikipedia)

We're pretty fortunate in Perth to have high-quality salami, sausages, prosciutto, etc. produced by Mondo Doro and Princi. What we're missing is guanciale.

I've never seen guanciale in Perth. It's cured pig's jowl and it's used in various pasta dishes in place of pancetta or bacon: pure piggy awesomeness. Mario Batali has led a guanciale craze in America, but small goods manufacturers here don't seem to have caught on.

I've been tempted to get into making my own basic cured meats, following some of the simpler recipes from Ruhlman's Charcuterie , but I don't think I'll get past cured salmon, duck breast or maybe bresaola. Pig jowls are a step too far, I don't think Soda could handle a cured jowl drying on a hook in the kitchen.

Matt from Abstract Gourmet is on the case, but if anyone else can point me towards some guanciale (or any other semi-obscure cured meats) in Perth then I'd be very grateful.