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A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty
bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...
, lardons are also used for larding, by threading them with a needle into meats that are to be braised or roasted. Lardons are not normally smoked, and they are made from pork that has been cured with salt. In
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...
, lardons are served hot in salads and salad dressings, as well as on some tartes flambées, stews such as
beef bourguignon Beef bourguignon () or bœuf bourguignon (; ), also called beef Burgundy, and ''bœuf à la Bourguignonne'',''Random House Dictionary'online at dictionary.com/ref> is a French beef stew braised in red wine, often red Burgundy, and beef stock, t ...
, quiches such as
Quiche Lorraine Quiche Lorraine is a French tart with a filling made of cream, eggs, and bacon or ham, in an open pastry case. It was little known outside the French region of Lorraine until the mid-20th century. As its popularity spread, nationally and internat ...
, in
omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ...
s, with potatoes, and for other dishes such as
coq au vin ''Coq au vin'' (; , "rooster/cock with wine") is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic. A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local wines, such ...
. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' defines "lardon" as "one of the pieces of bacon or pork which are inserted in meat in the process of larding", giving primacy to that process. According to the '' Middle English Dictionary'', the earliest occurrence of the word is in 1381, in the work ''Pegge Cook''; it advises to insert lardons in
cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...
and
heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...
s.


Preparation

Lardons may be prepared from different
cuts of pork File:British Pork Cuts.svg, 400px, British cuts of pork poly 187 219 187 194 173 196 Trotters poly 372 226 373 207 361 204 359 216 Trotters poly 171 141 166 104 287 117 294 152 Belly poly 167 102 178 27 315 23 274 102 Loin poly 361 201 371 181 ...
, including pork belly and fatback, or from cured cuts such as
bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
or
salt pork Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger a ...
. According to food writer Regina Schrambling, when the lardon is salt-cured but not smoked in the style of American bacon, "the flavor comes through cleanly, more like ham but richer because the meat is from the belly of the pig, not the leg". The meat (fat) is usually cut into small strips or cubes about one centimeter ( inch) wide, then blanched or fried. Some chefs recommend using
pancetta 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. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, p ...
as a substitute;
ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term " ...
is also suggested.


Usage

It is common for the lardons to be used for two distinct purposes in the same dish. The fat rendered from the cubed pork is good for
sautéing Sautéing or sauteing (, ; in reference to tossing while cooking) is a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Various sauté methods exist. Description Ingredients for ...
vegetables or meat during the early stages of a recipe, and the crisp browned pork cubes can be added as a garnish or ingredient just before serving: "the crispy bits are used to add a smoky, salty flavor and a pleasant crunch to all kinds of dishes". The rich flavor pairs well with cheeses and sturdy leaf vegetables like spinach and frisée, for which the hot rendered fat can be used as part of the salad dressing. Lardons are frequently used in
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...
to flavor salads, stews (such as
beef bourguignon Beef bourguignon () or bœuf bourguignon (; ), also called beef Burgundy, and ''bœuf à la Bourguignonne'',''Random House Dictionary'online at dictionary.com/ref> is a French beef stew braised in red wine, often red Burgundy, and beef stock, t ...
and
coq au vin ''Coq au vin'' (; , "rooster/cock with wine") is a French dish of chicken braised with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic. A red Burgundy wine is typically used, though many regions of France make variants using local wines, such ...
), quiches (
quiche Lorraine Quiche Lorraine is a French tart with a filling made of cream, eggs, and bacon or ham, in an open pastry case. It was little known outside the French region of Lorraine until the mid-20th century. As its popularity spread, nationally and internat ...
), potatoes,
omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ...
s and other dishes. A particular Parisian use of lardons is in the ''salade aux lardons'', a wilted salad (often made with frisée (endive) lettuce) in which the lettuce leaves are wilted slightly by the addition of still-hot lardons and hot vinaigrette. A nineteenth-century recipe for a ''pie à la chasse'' calls for beef to be larded with lardons made of ham and bacon. A traditional dish from the
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
region is the
tarte flambée Flammekueche ( Alsatian; Standard German: ''Flammkuchen''), or tarte flambée ( French), is a speciality of the region of Alsace, German-speaking Moselle, Baden and the Palatinate. It is composed of bread dough rolled out very thinly in the sha ...
, a thin pizza-like bread covered with
crème fraîche Crème fraîche (English pronunciation: , , lit. "fresh cream") is a dairy product, a soured cream containing 10–45% butterfat, with a pH of approximately 4.5., p. 181''f'' It is soured with a bacterial culture. European labeling regulations ...
, onion, and lardons. A regional specialty from the
Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...
is
tartiflette Tartiflette () is a dish from Savoy in the French Alps and from Aosta Valley. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions. A splash of white wine can be added too. The word ''tartiflette'' is probably derived from the Arpita ...
, which is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese,
cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, and lardons.


Larding

A traditional use for lardons is in a technique called "larding", in which long strips of chilled pork fat are threaded (with the use of a needle) into meats that are to be braised or roasted, such as
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...
filets or veal (especially lean cuts), poultry, and lean fish such as tuna. These lardons are to be cut in strips about 3 mm thick and 3 mm wide, and it is essential that the fat be chilled before cutting and threading. The technique is explained at length in the classic book of
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...
'' La bonne cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange'', which details two techniques: surface larding, or "studding", in which the lardons are threaded onto the surface, and interior larding, in which the lardons are left in a channel (made with a larger-sized needle than is used for studding) inside the meat. Madame St. Ange recommends larding for braised calf's sweetbreads (as does the
French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredi ...
cookbook) and for a specific style of cooking
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...
. American food writer James Peterson specifically recommends using fatback for larding; salt pork, he says, "has a funny taste and won't work".Peterso
523
Julia Child recommends using lard or porkbellies (
pancetta 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. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, p ...
); she too thinks that neither salt pork nor bacon work, and suggests
blanching Blanch or blanching may refer to: People * Andrea Blanch (born 1935), portrait, commercial, and fine art photographer * Arnold Blanch (1896–1968), born and raised in Mantorville, Minnesota * Stuart Blanch, Baron Blanch (1918–1994), Anglican b ...
these first, to get rid of the overwhelming cured or smoked flavors. The origin of larding is in the Middle Ages, when hunting game was a popular activity amongst the upper classes and the meat acquired from it was often too lean and tough because of the animal's natural physical activity; larding provided the equivalent of today's marbling. The needle used is a larding needle (also "barding needle" or ''lardoir''). There are two basic kinds of larding needle, hollow and U-shaped. Hollow larding needles are about 5 mm in diameter with some sort of teeth or hook to keep the lard strip attached; they are passed completely through the meat. U-shaped larding needles, often called by the French name ''lardoir'', are long needles with a "U" cross-section. Four larding needles, accompanied by two crossed turning spits, are found in the coat of arms of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a French gastronomic society.


In other cuisines

In many cuisines around the world, pork fat is used as a flavoring, and lardons are found in various other cultures. In Puerto Rico, they are called
tocino Tocino is bacon in Spanish, typically made from the pork belly and often formed into cubes in Spain. In Caribbean countries, such as Puerto Rico and Cuba, ''tocino'' is made from pork fatback and is neither cured nor smoked but simply fried un ...
and are added to dishes such as
arroz con gandules Arroz con gandules is a combination of rice, pigeon peas, and pork, cooked in the same pot with sofrito. This is Puerto Rico's national dish along with roasted pork. Preparation This dish is mainly served during Christmas season or for special oc ...
. In Dutch cuisine lardons are used in many traditional dishes such as
stamppot ''Stamppot'' (English: 'mash pot') is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several vegetables. History and description These vegetable pairings traditionally include sauerkraut, endive, kale, spinach, tu ...
, and the split pea soup snert.


See also

*
Barding Barding (also spelled ''bard'' or ''barb'') is body armour for war horses. The practice of armoring horses was first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great ...
*
Lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the ...
*
Lardo Lardo is a type of '' salumi'' made by curing strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices. The most famous lardo is from the Tuscan hamlet of Colonnata, where lardo has been made since Roman times. Colonnata is a frazion ...
*
Salo Salo or Salò may refer to: Places Finland *Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland ** Salo sub-region, a subdivision of Finland Proper and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009 *An old name of Saloinen, a former municipality in Ostrobo ...


References


External links

* {{Navboxes, list1= {{Bacon {{Fatsandoils Pork French cuisine es:Albardar