On trips to Rome, Steven Jenkins — formerly of Fairway and now running Olive Oil Jones — picked up the scent of coppiette, a kind of pork jerky. He and his wife would notice “Italian truck drivers’ passion for gnawing on this stuff whilst jamming gears,” and he described coppiette as “pure premium pork loin dried and seasoned with fennel seed, hot chile flakes, coriander and sea salt.” Determined to get someone to make it in the United States, he convinced Chris Eley of Smoking Goose in Indianapolis to do so, and arranged for Patrick Martins of Heritage Foods to supply the pork. It’s now available to give your jaw a workout, just as Mr. Jenkins described.
Heritage Pork Coppiette, $20 for 4 ounces, oliveoiljones.com.
Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.