The town of Colonnata, made famous for its lard, plays host to a festival celebrating this dish which was once for the poor but now has become sought after by gourmets and lovers of good food. Among the various classical secrets for the dish, the traditional recipe calls for a male pig born and raised in Colonnata with local feed. Once the animal is slaughtered, it is salted and flavoured with spices then cut into rectangular pieces. But the ageing process in marble vats is what gives the lard its typical characteristics, the only material able to do so.