Lardo

Lardo is Italian pork back fat cured with salt, herbs and spices until soft and fragrant, then sliced almost see-through. Italy protects two names: Lardo di Colonnata PGI from Tuscany, aged at least six months in marble tubs, and Valle d'Aosta Lard d'Arnad PDO, aged at least 90 days in wooden tubs of brine. ¹³

Marble and quarrymen. Colonnata is a hamlet of Carrara among the marble quarries; the Tuscan product sheet notes a view that its name comes from a colony of slaves the Romans set to work there, and that the Code of Justinian gave legionaries a ration of lardo every three days. For the quarrymen of Colonnata lardo was a high-calorie food for hard work, and marble tubs for curing it from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries have been found in the village. ¹²

Saints and a festival. Nineteenth-century reliefs of Saint Anthony the Abbot, invoked against «Saint Anthony's fire», shingles, appear on village buildings: for centuries lardo applied to the skin was the only remedy thought to work, which is why the saint is often shown with a pig. The parish church is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew, patron of butchers, and a lardo festival is held on his feast day. ¹²

Fat and season. The pigs come from farms in ten regions: Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont, Umbria, Marche, Lazio and Molise. The cut is the fat layer covering the back from the nape to the rump and down to the belly, cleaned of soft fat and more than 3 cm thick. Work runs from September to May on fresh fat only: within 72 hours of slaughter it must be trimmed, massaged with salt and laid in the tubs. ¹

Conche and salamora. The tubs, called conche, are white marble from the Canaloni quarries of the Colonnata basin, carved from one block or built from slabs at least 2 cm thick, and rubbed with garlic. Layers of fat alternate with sea salt, ground black pepper, fresh rosemary and coarsely chopped garlic; cinnamon, star anise, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, sage or oregano may be added, while flavourings, preservatives, additives and starter cultures are banned. The lardo rests at least six months in poorly ventilated rooms without air conditioning, in the salamora, the brine the fat releases, topped up with saturated sea-salt water if needed. ¹

Slice and label. Lardo di Colonnata is roughly rectangular, at least 3 cm thick, with rind below and a crust of salt darkened by herbs on top, sometimes a strip of lean; it is moist, soft, white to pinkish, with a delicate, almost sweet taste. It is sold in vacuum pieces of 250–5000 g, and slicing or grinding is allowed only in Colonnata; a whole piece carries a single-use seal with the logo, and «IGP» must be larger than any other text. The PGI was registered by Regulation (EC) 1856/2004, and in 2006 1,205 quintals were certified. ¹²

Lard d'Arnad. The Aosta Valley lardo comes from heavy pigs of Italian Large White, Landrace and Duroc lines, at least nine months old, with carcasses of 110.1–190 kg; at least half their feed dry matter comes from the farming area. Within six days of slaughter the shoulder and back fat goes into doils of chestnut, oak or larch, layered with salt, garlic, bay, rosemary and sage, with whole spices allowed, and covered with salted water boiled and cooled. It ages at least 90 days in Arnad; the PDO dates from Regulation (EC) 1263/96, and the specification was updated in July 2026. ³⁴

Nitrite and nutrition. EU guidance lists dry-salted lardo among products similar to dry-cured bacon, and from 9 October 2025 that group may keep at most 105 mg/kg of residual nitrite, down from 175. Lardo di Colonnata allows no preservatives or additives, and the Arnad specification lists only brine, herbs and spices. USDA data give raw back fat 812 kcal, 88.7 g fat and 2.9 g protein per 100 g, of which 42 g monounsaturated and 32.2 g saturated fat; there is no separate figure for aged lardo. ¹³⁵⁶⁷

Why it matters to you. Check the name, the IGP or DOP mark and, on a whole piece, the seal; slice lardo paper-thin and keep the rind on the piece. Lardo is cured back fat, not rendered lard, and unlike Pancetta it has no lean layers; compare it with Salo and Guanciale, and see the family on Cured pork fat and belly. ¹ WHO classes processed meat, including salted and cured meat, as carcinogenic to humans, with risk growing with the amount eaten. ⁸