I was shopping in Sainsbury's today. I was looking for some diced pork to use in a rather excellent spaghetti recipe that I recently came across. I thought I'd spotted just what I was after near the bacon, only to discover that it was a British product going by the unlikely name of Lardon (which sounded like an aroused pig to me). Next to it was a similar product which was being marketed as Bacon Bits. Call me a snob, but neither of these products had quite the same ring to them as the Italian product I eventually bought: Cubetti di Pancetta.
What is it with us Brits and marketing? Why do we always under-sell our products? Take wine: many years ago, we discovered a way of adding bubbles to it, so we dubbed it sparkling wine. Then along came the French, who stole the idea, and the next thing you know, everyone's drinking champagne.
It's time we sexed things up a bit.
Isn't Lardon Greek?
In any case, it's obviously the fundamental unit of fat in the way that a "photon" is the fundamental unit of light and the "electron" equivalent for electricity.