CarneAtlas

Lard fumé

Pork · Belly
BraiseSmokeCure

Lard fumé is known in English as Pork belly.

Also called
🇪🇸Panceta ahumada🇵🇹Toucinho fumado🇮🇹Pancetta affumicata🇩🇪Räucherspeck🇩🇪Bauchspeck🇺🇸Pork belly🇮🇹Pancetta
Raw Lard fumé — Pork Belly cut

Patrice78500, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Lardons.jpg

French smoked pork belly — the source of *lardons* (the diced cured-pork batons that thread through coq au vin, salade lyonnaise, quiche Lorraine, tartiflette, and a dozen other French staples). Cured with salt and aromatics, then cold-smoked over hardwood for 24–48 hours, the lard fumé is sold in slabs (*plat*), in cubes (*lardons*), or sliced thin for *barde* (the bacon wrap that keeps roasts moist). Distinct from Italian pancetta (cured but not smoked), from American streaky bacon (heavier smoke, sweeter cure), and from German Bauchspeck (similar smoke profile but typically with caraway in the cure). A pillar of French home cooking — without it, a great deal of bistro cuisine simply doesn't exist.

Names by country

CountryNameNotes
🇫🇷FranceLard fuméprimarySmoked pork belly; sold in slabs, in cubes (lardons), or sliced thin for barde. Cured then cold-smoked, 24–48 hours over hardwood. Also called "poitrine fumée" depending on region.
🇪🇸SpainPanceta ahumada
🇵🇹PortugalToucinho fumado
🇮🇹ItalyPancetta affumicataThe smoked form of pancetta, as opposed to the salt-cured pancetta stesa
🇩🇪GermanyRäucherspeckThe same smoked belly, diced for cooking as in French lardons
What to ask for
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Classic recipe

Lardons Fumés sur Salade Lyonnaise12 min

The Lyonnais salad — frisée, a poached egg, and crisp lardons fumés tossed in a hot vinaigrette of bacon fat and red-win…

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Unbranded charcoal smoker prepared for barbecue

$$$ · brisket, ribs, pork shoulder, and long smoke cooks

Hold a steady 225°F for twelve hours

Low-and-slow barbecue where stable heat matters more than speed.

Weber Smokey Mountain 18-Inch Charcoal Smoker

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