Lard Paté
Features: Fresh cold cut that must be eaten within a month: the more time passes, the more it loses its characteristic aroma deriving from the essences used. The lard paté derives from the processing of pork lard, salted and flavored with local herbs, ideal to spread on heated slices of bread. Mirko, from the Butcher's Shop of Castelnuovo Magra suggests to eat crostini with a white, aromatic, and fresh wine or, better again, with Sciacchetrà of Cinque Terre. Add to the lard crostini a bit of honey.
Production Area: Castelnuovo Magra and Sassello
Curiosities: The pork butchering offers among its products lard, commonly used in many western regions in the Middle Ages. As a matter of fact, olive oil production could not entirely replace animal fats, among which lard, especially in the diet of the farmers and the poor. Therefore, oil was considered to be a luxury product, while lard was used every day by the farmers.
Preparation: After a salting process of at least 20 days, the lard is skinned, cut into pieces, and thinly minced in order to obtain a lard cream. At this point it is processed by hand, sprinkling it with aromas and spices, "particular and secret herbs" for the two butcher's shops producing it. In the butcher's shop of Castelnuovo it is sold in small sausages, while in Sassello it is sold as a cream. It can be preserved for about one month but, if used within two or three days from its preparation, it gives off all the perfumes and aromas of the spontaneous herbs used to prepare it.
