Put flour, salt and lard in a suitable bowl. Mix well water, sugar and yeast (the yeast must be completely dissolved).
Work into a very firm yeast dough. Cover the dough and let it rise for about 1 hour.
Shape the dough into pretzels. Bring water with baking soda to a boil. Boil the pretzels for about 30 seconds each.
Remove with a strainer and place on a very thickly greased baking sheet (no baking paper).
Sprinkle the pretzels with cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 225 °C for about 15-20 minutes (convection oven is best).