[serf]

Did you read the article you linked to?

>The biggest mistake non-Italian speakers make with this absolutely delicious regional delicacy is that they translate it to “lard”, which, it must be strongly pointed out, it is not. What we call “lard” in English is known as strutto in Italian, which is used commonly for conserving, pastry making or frying. Lardo, however, is cured pig’s back fat, a unique type of salumi.

So, no, what is called 'lard' is not gourmet in Italian cuisine. That's a wholly separate thing from 'lardo', the delicacy you're referring to.

[Retric]

> Lardo, however, is cured pig’s back fat.

In other words a type of fat is considered a delicacy. That does not mean all fat is a delicacy, but it does mean what the guy ate could have been fairly tasty.

Also, taste has a lot to do with how hungry you are. My father had fairly refined tastes and grew up in France, but said the best meal he ever ate was an can of beans when he was really hungry in the army.

EX: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11315994/Ten-things-n...

A normal man burns about 2,500 calories in a day. We burn between 7,000 to 9,000. That means supplementing your dehydrated food with slabs of butter. In the first few days of the expedition, it tastes revolting, but then your body just craves the fat content and you eat the butter like blocks of cheese.

[mahesh_rm]

It is irrelevant what "Lard" is in English in this context. What "Lardo" is in Italian, which is close to (a likely more cured version of) what was found in the stomach of Otzi, is nowadays considered a delicacy, and it is probably a long shot for researchers to assume the guy ate something of horrible taste, without further substantiating their claims.

[optimuspaul]

I have been in Eastern European countries that call it "lard".