Homemade Sausage Making

I am after some ideas for using aromatics in curing some guanciale. I am killing a couple of pigs tomorrow and normally just keep the cheek meat for braising and give the rest of the head away to a customer. Would have loved to do a headcheese or terrine but im not going to have enough time. Then i thought .......why not cure it ! The Ruhlman/Polcyn book, Salumi just uses pepper. I was thinking of adding some brown sugar, garlic powder, thyme and maybe some juniper berries and using it like a pancetta for flavouring other dishes.
There will be 4 so i can afford to experiment somewhat.
Peoples thoughts ?

Cheers

Just like all other cured solid muscle meats, the possibilities are endless. R&P's Salumi has some great spice combos for lonzino and for coppa and any one would probably work well with the jowls. (but then I'm not sure you would be able to call it guanciale. If I was preparing it from a heritage breed hog that ran around in the open, I would not overdo it with seasonings just so that the quality pork flavour still comes through.

I would not overdo it with seasonings just so that the quality pork flavour still comes through.

Chris is absolutely correct! It seems like everyone must find this out for themselves. I recommend a shake of salt and two shakes of pepper. That's all. Let the natural flavor of the pork come through. All other spices and herbs just lend their specific flavors to the meat. Why not let the meat taste like.... uhhh.... meat? People find the taste delicious. They always have - they always will.

One more observation on my part. I have seen, over and over - time and time again - people (beginners) using too many spices and herbs. Beginners believe they can discover the magic secret recipe of all time! Then they go about combining every spicy ingredient they can find. The truth is, after all that experimenting, after all that time, after all that expense, the meat has its own flavor that will tickle your tastebuds if you pay more attention to HOW you make the project. With all the little details taken care of, with all the specifics in order, the meat can't help but taste great without all those spices. Nevertheless, if you are "normal"... you'll have to discover this for yourself.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon