Colonnata

Colonnata, located among the peaks of the Apuan Alps, is known throughout the world for its delicious lard, a poor food, which once fed the most humble workers.

Surrounded by a suggestive frame of partly still active marble quarries, this ancient center of marble production has existed since Roman times and seems to have taken its name precisely because the marble extracted here was used to build the columns of Roman temples.

The village of Colonnata has its origins in the Roman settlements of the 1st century B.C., when the first sites for the exploitation of marble were implanted in the area. From the nearby Roman colony of Luni, part of the slaves was moved to extract the high quality marble that was sent to Rome to embellish palaces and monuments. The local population and the slaves later joined together, giving rise to a strong mountain community.

It developed mainly on the work of quarries and with a history rich in continuous struggles for the improvement of the harsh working conditions in this realm of anarchists. In recent years the new methods of extracting marble have led to the decline of work in quarries. Later the economy of Colonnata recovered thanks to gastronomy with the rediscovery of lard.

The lard of Colonnata owes its exceptional goodness to aging, whose origin dates back to around the year one thousand. The lard is produced by taking the fat layer of the pig’s back and placed in a “basin” dug into a block of marble a few hours after slaughter. The basin is rubbed with garlic and herbs, natural salt in grains, black pepper, fresh garlic, rosemary, sage and other aromatic herbs; then the basin is filled in layers alternating the lard with the salt and the aromas that are covered by a marble slab. The lard remains in the bowl from six to ten months for aging. Originally the lard was cut into thin strips by the quarrymen and tasted with bread, raw onion and a good glass of wine.