Taken from the cheek of a pig, guanciale is a rich, fatty piece of meat that often gets cured before it's used. Guanciale is mainly found in Italian pasta dishes from central Italy in areas such as Umbria and Lazio. Two of the most common or well-known dishes that feature guanciale include spaghetti alla carbonara and amatriciana, which both include some of the meat in the sauce. The flavor of the guanciale permeates each bite and gives the sauce an umami richness and a bit of a salty, velvety backbone.  "Guanciale is the ingredient of the true Carbonara recipe"