I've bought it enough times in Spain.

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Note added at 2002-02-13 11:36:02 (GMT)
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Can be cured meat, in which case it\'s bacon. I\'m assuming here that it\'s fresh meat.

Lo increíble es que te encuentres con la palabra panceta, puesto que en España está en franco desuso.

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Note added at 2002-02-13 08:47:38 (GMT)
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Se está utilizando cada vez más la palabra inglesa \"bacon\". Aunque por tratarse de un texto culinario se siga manteniendo el español.

The Italian version is becoming known as pancetta in England. It's apparently quite posh.

"Bacon" is a cut of meat. While we are used to seeing it smoked, it can also be bought *fresh* (uncured). Pork bellies are that section of the animal when sold wholesale (a "commodity"); bacon is the piece that is purchased retail (called a "commercial cut").

By the way, I just learned, while checking my cookbook sources, that in the UK, apparently, salted cured or dried bacon is called *a gammon*.

I've been cooking, shopping for meat, and reading cookbooks and other references on food, for forty years, including lots of Spanish-language works. It's always interesting to match up the names of meat cuts in different regions and languages, as butchers tend to break animals down differently in different parts of the world (and even within countries), but in the case of *bacon*, there's pretty universal agreement. :-)

panceta is more or less the equivalent of bacon. Today, you rarely hear anyone talk about "panceta" in Spain. Instead, they refer to it as béicon

My Oxford Spanish Dictionary says that

1. If it is uncured it is belly pork

2. if it is cured it is streaky bacon.