The Aosta Valley represents not only a region, but also a profusion of alpine flavours, including "lard d'Arnad." This seasoned pork fat enjoys its own reserved title or appellation d'origine protégée and is made only around the town of Arnad in the Aosta region. Historical documents referring to this product go back to 1763, so for more than two centuries a highly developed culture of lard-making with specific production and preservation methods has existed in the Valle d'Aosta.

To produce it, fatty pork is seasoned with salt, water, aromatic herbs and spices. After ageing, the finished product, which may be one of several shapes, will be white with streaks of meat in the upper layer. The inside is pinkish and free of any veining.

The particular flavour of lard d'Arnad is due, among other things, to the diet of the hogs, which are fed on chestnuts, vegetables, flour and whey. Then the lard d'Arnad is enhanced by the addition of local flavours and preserved in brine in chestnut wood barrels, creating a product with an absolutely unique flavour that even merits its own festival, held each year on the last weekend of August.