Pork jowl is a cut of pork from a pig's cheek. Different food traditions have used it as a fresh cut or as a cured pork product (with smoke and/or

curing salt A cure is a completely effective treatment for a disease. Cure or The Cure, or variants, may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * Cure (film), ''Cure'' (film), a 1997 film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa * The Cure (1917 film), ''Th ...

). As a cured and smoked meat in America, it is called jowl bacon or, especially in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, hog jowl, joe bacon, or joe meat. In the US, hog jowl is a staple of

soul food Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the Southern United States, American South from the cuisines of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans transported from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade, sou ...

. Outside the United States, there is a longer culinary tradition: the cured, non-smoked Italian variant is called

guanciale Guanciale () is an Italian salt-cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from , meaning 'cheek'. Its rendered fat gives flavour to and thickens the sauce of pasta dishes. Production Guanciale is usually rubbed ...

Culinary

Jowl bacon can be fried and eaten as a

main course A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée () course. Usage In the United States and Canada (except Quebec), the main course is traditionally called an "entrée". En ...

, similar to streaky

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

. Often, it is used as a seasoning for

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

black-eyed pea The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea. The common commerci ...

s or cooked with leafy green vegetables such as

collard greens Collard is a group of loose-leafed cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'' (the same species as many common vegetables like cabbage and broccoli). Part of the acephala cultivar group (or kale group), collard is also classified as the variety ''B.& ...

or turnip greens in a traditional Southeastern meal. Jowl meat may also be chopped and used as a garnish, similar to

bacon bits Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the BLT sandwich), or as a flavour ...

, or served in

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

form. Pork jowl can be used as a binding ingredient in pork liver sausages, such as

liverwurst Liverwurst, leberwurst, or liver sausage is a kind of sausage made from liver (food), liver. It is eaten throughout Europe, as well as North and South America, notably in Argentina and Chile. Some liverwurst varieties are spreadable. Liverwurst ...

and braunschweiger.

Traditions in the US

A Southern US tradition of eating black-eyed peas and greens with either pork jowls or

fatback Fatback is a layer of subcutaneous fat taken from under the skin of the back of a domestic pig, with or without the skin (referred to as pork rind). In cuisine Fatback is a preferred fat for various forms of charcuterie, particularly sau ...

on New Year's Day to ensure prosperity throughout the new year goes back hundreds of years. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

(1861 to 1865), the peas were thought to represent wealth to the Southerners, while the Northern army considered the food to be fit as livestock feed only. Pigs (and by extension, pork products) were symbolic of "wealth and gluttony" and consuming jowls or fatback on New Year's Day guaranteed a good new year.

Storage

Because pork jowl can be cured, like many other cuts of pork, it has been a traditional wintertime food as it is able to be stored for long periods of time without refrigeration.

References

External links

* {{Pigs Cuts of pork Cuisine of the Southern United States Soul food Smoked meat African-American cuisine

Culinary

Traditions in the US

Storage

See also

References

External links