There is something about finger food. It seems both sophisticated and mischievous.

I guess that's because there is something heedless and hedonistic about eating with your fingers. It's the standing part that makes it feel so sophisticated.

Still, on the flip side– finger food can make you feel downright childlike too (and I mean that in a good way). Boring old grown-ups sit politely while eating, napkins in laps. But us cocktail kids get to slink around the room– glass in one hand, tidbit in the other. It’s that wonderful moment when your past and present selves playfully intertwine in a way that seldom happens at the dinner table.

Of course the best thing about finger food is that it is associated with parties. I guess that's why finger food doesn’t feel like calories, does it? Finger food usually mingles on a communal platter, enticing its intended targets (you and I) to follow suit.

Guanciale ("gwan-chi-ah-lay") is a cut of Italian cured pork. But please don’t call it bacon, unless you preface it with the term “magic”!

It is a speciality of central Italy, particularly Umbria and Lazio. While bacon and its Italian counterpart pancetta are made from pork belly, guanciale is cut from the pork jowl. It is typically used in pasta sauces because the fat in it has a different quality than that found on other parts of the pig. You will find that it melts easily into dishes as it cooks. This is why I often refer to guanciale as “magic bacon”, because as the collagen breaks down it incorporates itself into the sauce making it silky smooth and super sweet.

Because it's mostly fat, guanciale has a more seductive porkiness to it than the cured meats coming from the belly. Though cuts of bacon and pancetta are often substituted for guanciale the flavor isn't the same. Because unlike pancetta or bacon, guanciale takes its flavor not from smoke but from salt, wine, herbs and chilies.