Lardons

Lardons are small strips or cubes of cured (and sometimes lightly smoked) pork fat, cut from the belly or fatback, that French cookery renders slowly in a pan until the fat melts and the little batons turn golden and crisp. Neither a slice of bacon nor a chunk of salt pork exactly, the lardon is a distinct culinary form — a bite-sized seasoning of meat that laces salty, smoky, deeply savoury pork through classic dishes from quiche Lorraine and coq au vin to salade lyonnaise and boeuf bourguignon.