Hello everyone,

I live in Maryland, in the United States. I am looking for a easily
available substitute for Speck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck).
Does anyone have any ideas what it could be and where I could get it?

thanks!
-kaushik

Try contacting someone listed on this page:

http://www.germancorner.com/yellowpa.../maryland.html

I've been to the Old World Deli on Liberty Road a few months ago, and
saw that they have a fair selection of fresh and frozen German style
meats, along with a variety of other German foods, condiments and
delicacies.

As I recall from my few visits to Germany years ago, "speck" is a
variety of cured pork similar to American bacon or Italian pancetta,
i.e., pretty fatty and smokey/cured tasting, not lean like Canadian
bacon. (This was more than 20 years ago, so memory is a bit hazy...)

Bob
==================================
kghose wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I live in Maryland, in the United States. I am looking for a easily
> available substitute for Speck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck).
> Does anyone have any ideas what it could be and where I could get it?
>
> thanks!
> -kaushik

If you cannot find a local German Deli and the old immigrant's butcher
shops have moved on, look close in and around military bases in Maryland
for it. Also, there is always the Bacon of the Month clubs to look at and I
would recommend trying Mario Batali's Father's place here in Seattle:
http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/ Lardo is very similar so also try the
Italian shops in your area.

I use jowl bacon as a sub, (even if some here have disparaged it with out
trying it and I even still cook with Lard, especially with Latin and
Southern Foods) . Jowl bacon is usually a good sub in cooking. It is
about 1.50-1. 60 a lb, a block of salt pork is 2.50 and a Lb of Bacon is
2.50-3.99 depending on the marketing angle.

Let us know what you find.
de

kghose > wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I live in Maryland, in the United States. I am looking for a easily
> available substitute for Speck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck).
> Does anyone have any ideas what it could be and where I could get it?
>


Depending on what kind of Speck you need you will need several
substitutes.

Here a quick overview about the different kinds of Speck in Germany:
types of treatment:
gruener Speck (green Speck) : untreated Speck
geraeucheter Speck (smoked Speck): Speck treated with smoke to keep it
longer
gepoekelter Speck (cured Speck) : Speck cured like ham to keep it
longer

parts to get Speck from:
Rueckenspeck, also called fetter Speck (back Speck or fat Speck):
cut from the fatty layer between skin and muscles on the back of the
pig

Bauchspeck, also called durchwachsener Speck (belly Speck or streaky
Speck):
from the belly part of the pig

You can see the 2 regions on
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Sc...Bauchspeck.jpg

Maybe you can find similar cuts in your local grocery stores.

Caba

kghose > wrote:

> I live in Maryland, in the United States. I am looking for a easily
> available substitute for Speck (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speck).
> Does anyone have any ideas what it could be and where I could get it?

"Speck", in German(y), is a fairly generic name. It is fat and meat
located under animal's (normally pig's) skin, usually of belly, back, or
leg. There are many kinds, mainly distinguished by whether or not they
are cured or smoked or both, as well as by the ratio of meat to fat,
from none at all to a lot (i.e. it can be rather lean or mostly fat).
Consistency can vary between chewy and melt-in-the-mouth. Depending on
the kind of Speck, it can be substituted by slab bacon, streaky bacon,
smoked ham, or the Italian pancetta.

Victor

Thanks for the replies people!
-kaushik