Pancetta is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas.
For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (cubetti di pancetta). In Italy, pancetta is commonly served as a sliced meat, sliced thin and eaten raw. It can also be used in carbonara pasta (although guanciale is generally regarded as more traditional).
The two basic types of pancetta are the arrotolata ("rolled") and stesa, or tesa ("flat"). The arrotolata, salted, is mainly cut in thin slices and eaten raw as part of antipasti or simply as a component of a sandwich; the stesa is often used chopped as an ingredient in many recipes or cut in thick strips, that are usually eaten grilled. There is also a version of arrotolata, to which capicola is added in the center of the roll (pancetta coppata).
The rolled type is typical of northern Italy, while the flattened type is typical of central and southern Italy.
While most pancetta is salt-cured and dried, pancetta affumicata is salt-cured and smoked, similar to bacon.