A small strip or cube of slab bacon, a lardon is more than just thick-cut bacon though. Lardons are salty and cured but aren't generally smoked so you get a true pork flavor. Because of the cut, they get crispy but still stay tender, unlike bacon which can just crumble to small bits, while lardons will remain luxuriously sized cubes of flavor. If you can't get your mitts on lardons, thick-sliced bacon will work, if you cut them into decent-sized bits.