This is a herbaceous plant (also called "cipollaccio" or "muscari"), that has an edible bulb. Although it can be cultivated, it can also be found in the wild, in the flat fields of southern Italy and lower Mediterranean, especially Greece. It is usually picked towards the end of summer, beginning of fall. In Italy, lampascioni are grown only in Apulia, and the most common variety is called "Monstruosa".

The plant looks very much like the onion, but the bulbs are smaller, globular and oval, white in color, and covered by darker paper-like layers. It has a bitter taste, and is usually served raw, or pickled in vinegar and stored. To prepare lampascioni, simply peel them like normal onions, remove the rooty base, and wash well to remove any soil. If you plan to cook them whole, don't peel them.

If you wish to remove their characteristic bitter taste, once peeled or pre-cooked, soak them in water for 12-24 hours.

A unique Italian specialty, "lardo" is a cured meat made from the layer of fat found directly under the pig's skin. This layer is cut into rectangular pieces and packed into large vats for salting and curing. Various seasonings, which usually include garlic and pepper, are added between each layer and the lardo is left to soak in brine for three months to a year. Lardo can also be smoked, and often includes the strip of lean meat found near the bone. While the name may not sound very appealing to English speakers, lardo makes for a delicious antipasto. It has a very soft texture and a delicate flavor with overtones of whatever herbs and spices it was left to mature in. As an antipasto, lardo is served thinly sliced on dark bread, though it can also be used in cooking, on pasta, as a substitute for pancetta or as an ingredient in stuffings for cuts of meat.

There are two places in Italy that are particularly famous for their lardo. Colonnata, a village in Tuscany, produces a fine lardo which is cured in huge vats made from the local Carrara marble and seasoned with pepper, cinnamon, whole cloves and rosemary. Arnad, in Valle D'Aosta, produces a slightly different, though equally mouthwatering, version. Here the lardo, which is without the rind, is seasoned with sage, rosemary, juniper, pepper and garlic and put in a brine and white wine solution. In English, the term "lard" is used for the softer layer of fat found just above the lean part of the meat, which is rendered down or melted. Known as strutto in Italy, it was used extensively in the past for deep-frying. It gives very crisp and flavorsome results, but the smell of frying strutto is pervasive and pungent! (2 recipes)

Arnad, in Valle d'Aosta, produces an excellent variety of lardo, considered one of the best cured meats in Italy. Lardo, the layer of fat found directly immediately under the skin of a pig, is salted and/or smoked, and is a particularly delicate and flavorsome antipasto. Lardo di Arnad, or lard d'Arnad as it is known in French, is different from other types of lardo in that it is preserved without the rind. It is aged in brine with herbs and spices for at least 3 months. Buy it when it is about 4-5 centimeters high (between 1.5" to 2"), white in color with pinkish tones, and possibly showing some deep pink veins verging on red. It should be firm, with a delicate perfume further enriched by the aromas in which it has been matured.

Lievito ("yeast" in English) is present in various forms. Here is a useful guide reference to the different types found in Italian recipes, and its equivalent in English.

Lievito naturale (lievito madre):  Biga. A piece of risen dough is stored for a few weeks and kept alive. It is mixed with new flour to make fresh dough, always storing a little for future use. Today it is often substituted by fresh yeast.

Lievito di birra:  Brewer's yeast, also known as fresh yeast. It is stored in the refrigerator, and is usually used dissolved in lukewarm water. If the water is too warm it can kill the yeast, preventing the dough from rising.

Lievito chimico (o minerale):  Baking powder

Lievito disidratato (o secco):  Active dry yeast.

Bicarbonato di sodio: Baking soda.

Cremortartaro: Cream of tartar

Carbonato di ammonio: Ammonium carbonate (rare, but can be found in recipes originally from Scandinavia).

Also known as 'luganeca', 'luganega', and 'luganiga', this sausage is popular - albeit in slightly different versions - throughout Italy. It likely originated in Basilicata, a Southern Italian region that used to be called Lucania, where locals make spicy lucaniche (the plural form of the name) and roast them along with other meats like lamb and lamb's intestines. Most often long and thin, lucaniche can be eaten fresh or cooked. Light pink in color, they are prepared with both the fat and lean parts of pork shoulder, and are seasoned with salt, pepper, and carefully chosen spices; the spices used differentiate one lucanica from another. In Northern Italy, lucanica is often accompanied by mashed potatoes or steaming hot polenta.