Lardon

[1] 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 and herons.

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 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.

[22] American food writer James Peterson specifically recommends using fatback for larding; salt pork, he says, "has a funny taste and won't work".

[23] Julia Child recommends using lard or porkbellies (pancetta); she too thinks that neither salt pork nor bacon work, and suggests blanching these first, to get rid of the overwhelming cured or smoked flavors.

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.