We probably all know of the odd bargain that defies belief

For instance; the humble turkey drum stick, frequently ignored, offers up richer, tastier and often more meat than a intensely farmed chicken from a Supermarkup and yet few people take advantage of it. I don’t mean the “Loss Leader” turkey drum sticks sold in the Supermarkup either but those often found sold by better high street Butchers. For often no more than £1 to £1.50. Boiled with a couple of carrots and a quartered Onion and not only will the meat fall off the bone moist and succulent ready to make a stew, stir fry or pasta dish but in addition you are left with a stock from the boiled water which can be divided, reduced and frozen ready for the next broth.

That then leads neatly to one of my favourite and yet cheapest of cured Pork cuts, Guanciale, pronounced ‘gwahn – tchah – leh’ Where many bacon cuts are taken from the belly of the pig, Guanciale is made from dry curing the meat from the pigs jowl or cheek. It has a noticeably richer flavour than most cuts, and in my view the delicious porky flavour make its three week curing process worth the wait. Not to try this method of curing is at worst denying yourself sampling a distinct flavoursome dish and at best an offence to the poor pig that gave its life for your ignorance.

A double bonus to many of us is that because of the squeamishness of modern shoppers who want all that they buy to be killed not only out of sight but often so far out of sight as not to be in the same country, that literally hundreds of thousands of Pigs heads that don’t go to the dog meat factory, go to waste. And like our humble turkey leg, many a butcher is willing to, if not give away, sell very cheaply the whole head of a pig, rich in meat and flavour, for next to nothing.

So, Guanciale for under a £1. Firstly I was given a pigs head from my butcher today for free. It was marked up with the trotters for £2 but having many trotters in the freezer I decided I only wanted the head and as a regular customer it was added free to my order but in the past I have bought the pigs head alone for £1, complete.

Now I am going to be a bit cheeky here on the price and say that the head should have cost me at least a pound, which sees my budget blown out the water but because the Guanciale only requires under half the head and the rest will be used to make brawn and stock I feel that 50p was the equivalent rate for the cheeks.

My butcher kindly cut the jowls away from the head for me and packed them in a bag separate from the head.

So here are the first and easy steps to making : Guanciale

Ingredients

• 2 Pigs Cheek 50p
• ½ a cup of Salt 5p
• ½ cup of sugar 10p
• ½ a Teaspoon of Saltpetre 20p
• 15 Peppercorns 2p
• 4 Fresh Sprigs of Thyme 0p (from the garden)