Moving in another legislatory direction, last week I attended a conference on Lardo di Colonnata, the cured lard that Colonnata's quarrymen have been using as sandwich meat for thousands of years. Before you get queasy, a little history: People have known about Carrara's white marble since Pre-Roman times, and have been extracting it since they discovered it. In the days before mechanized transportation most people went on foot, so having the town as close to the workplace as possible was important, and the Roman quarrymen (for the most part slaves) founded Colonnata on a ridge between two quarries. Steep forested hills where they could gather chestnuts, acorns, and such, but not much in the way of arable land, nor a place where one could easily raise goats, sheep, or cattle. But pigs do very well with acorns and chestnuts, so every family had at least one, which they would butcher in the winter. The meat, of course, got eaten, but pigs also have lots of lard, and the townspeople discovered they could cure in their cellars it if they put it in marble tubs, covering it with salt and herbs (garlic, rosemary, peppercorns, anise, and other things): The salt draws the water out of the fat, forming a brine, and in its dehydrated state the fat is much more receptive to the oils in the herbs, which flow into it and flavor it over a period of several months. The production technique guarantied a safe food because the salt tied up all the water, making it impossible for any form of bacteria to grow, the herbs and spices made it amazingly delicate and flavorful, and the calories made it perfect for the men to take into the quarries. People were already writing admiringly of it in the mid-1800s, and since then its renown has grown tremendously.

It has even become a tourist attraction, with people driving up to Colonnata to taste it, and though this has been very good for the town, helping to compensate for the loss of employment that followed the mechanization of the quarries, it has had a negative impact on the lard: Production is low, with 11 families making less than a ton a year, and though the producers are trying to increase it some, they can only make so much in the space they have. But demand is very high, and as a result people from elsewhere began salting lard and selling it as Lardo di Colonnata. But it wasn't: the tubs they were using were different, and so was the air -- there's something about the air currents around Colonnata that imparts unique flavors. Rubbish, some might think, but one of the Colonnata producers tried taking one of her tubs to the neighboring town and what came out of it didn't taste like the rest of the lard she had in her cellar. Things came to a head in 1996 with many arrests for fraud; at present the producers, who have formed an association, are waiting for official recognition of their product (something called DOP, Denominazione di Origine Protetta, which states where and how a product can be made) from the authorities. Once that's in place, all Lardo di Colonnata will really be from Colonnata (now you have to read the fine print). Problem is, though the DOP should have been granted quickly, those who are making Lardo outside what will be the DOP area have been fighting it, under the theory that it's easier to make Lardo di Colonnata, which has a name, even if you're really in Garfagnana, than it is to establish a name for Lardo di Garfagnana. And though this is true in the short run, it's also short sighted, because consumers will read the fine print about where the product is made and pay more for what comes from the source than for what's made elsewhere -- better to have your own name, especially since a town that becomes famed for a specialty will attract tourists.

Getting there: Colonnata is inland of Carrara; you dive into the city, find signs for the town, and follow them, through a succession of quarries and marble stands until the road stops and you're there. There are several places that sell Lardo right on the square, and there's also a well known restaurant called Venanzio, closed Thursdays and Sunday nights, which you should make a reservation for on 0585 758062. Once you're done buying, or eating, there are beautiful views into the quarries, and pretty winding streets to explore.

The second major problem to beset Lardo di Colonnata is the EEU health service: when the inspectors came to look, they were horrified. No tiled industrial halls, but rather people's cellars (some with dirt floors), no easily sterilized steel tanks to hold the lard, but rather marble tubs (many stained by decades of use), no climate control, but rather fresh mountain air… It was unsanitary! No matter that the brine makes bacteriological contamination impossible, no matter that people have been curing the lard this way for thousands of years. The EEU ordered production be halted until the proper practices of the sort one might find in a pristine industrial plant could be implemented. Since one couldn't build an industrial plant in Colonnata even if one wanted to for lack of space, this was a death knell for Lardo. Fortunately for us, the people of Colonnata have been wrestling marble blocks for millennia (read about the lizzatura, how they used to bring marble down from the quarries) and were quite willing to wrestle the EEU as well; they went before the health commissioners and argued four points, while all the other lesser artisanal productions of Europe looked on:

• a) History -- Lardo di Colonnata has been made for thousands of years.
• b) Tradition -- It has played an important role in shaping the area's dietary customs
• c) Local -- it's made in a small area
• d) Technique -- There are precise steps in making Lardo di Colonnata, which guarantee a safe product.

It was probably point d that swayed the commission, which has now decreed that Lardo di Colonnata can be made following the traditional techniques, and in the wake of the decision many other producers of artisanal foods have stepped up to the plate. The tide of regulation continues to advance, but a breakwater has been erected to shelter traditional food production and the ways of life associated with it, thanks to the efforts of a bunch of quarrymen from Colonnata. Now, if only the Tuscan regional Government would approve the DOP…

Should you buy some Lardo di Colonnata, what to do with it? Slice it very thinly and serve it on warm slices of toasted bread as an antipasto. There are other fancier pates and spreads, but I find this to be the most satisfying use. Or use it in the kitchen: Finely sliced, and tied over a drier meat, for example pheasant or turkey breast, or even a lean boned pork loin. Saves basting and adds a delightful touch.

A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine

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