Pork rind

Pork rind is the cooked skin of a pig. This may be either eaten warm with a meal, or served cold as a snack. In both forms some fat is commonly still attached to the skin.

Pork rind as a snack

When used as a snack food chunks or pellets of the cured pork skin (sometimes including portions of meat and/or hair as well) is deep-fried and puffed into light, irregular curls, and often seasoned with chilli pepper or barbecue flavoring. A similar food is cracklings, made from thicker, and therefore harder and crunchier, pieces of fried pigskin.

Microwavable pork rinds are sold which pop like popcorn and can be eaten still warm. Pickled pork rinds, on the other hand, are often enjoyed refrigerated and cold. Unlike the crisp and fluffy texture of fried pork rinds, pickled pork rinds are very rich and buttery, much like foie gras. Unfried pork rind is also processed into colorful and appealing shapes for use as fish bait.

In the Southern United States, pork rinds carry less social stigma, whereas elsewhere they are often poorly regarded due to their origins, high fat content (despite being similar in fat content to potato chips, yet much higher in protein), and perceived crudeness as a snack. When he was in the White House, U.S. President George H. W. Bush said that pork rinds were his favorite snack.

Health issues

There is some interest in pork rinds as a healthy snack food due to the Atkins diet, since pork rinds contain no carbohydrates (unless flavored). They are, however, high in fat and sodium, and generally may be considered more delicious than healthy to those who enjoy them. In fact, the fat content of pork rinds is similar to that of potato chips, and the amount of sodium in a serving of pork rinds is nearly five times of that within a serving of potato chips. For example, a 14 gram serving of Utz Regular Pork Rinds contains 5 g of fat and 230 mg of sodium, whereas the same serving of Utz Regular Potato Chips contains 4.5 g of fat and 47 mg of sodium. Pork rinds generally contain 8 g of protein in a 14 g serving, more than any food except dried meats such as jerky. The fat content of jerky, however, is much lower. Microwaveable pork rinds are lower in fat than the deep-fried variety, with only 2 g of fat per 14 g serving and no saturated fat, although the sodium level may be as high as 350 mg per serving. The high protein content of pork rinds makes them more nutritious than some low-fat snack foods, such as fat-free pretzels.

Origin

The consensus of opinion is that pork scratchings originated in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, in England. It would seem that Pork Scratchings were very much a food of the working classes which have their origin in the 1800s when it was produced as part of the tradition of families keeping their own pig at home and feeding it up for slaughter.

In modern times the fine layer of hair is removed from the skin by burning; however this is not completely effective and some pieces still have the hair attached. Some people prefer the rind to have the hair attached.

Butchers started selling pork scratchings in the 1930s, and more recently a product called pork crunch has been developed, in which much of the fat is scraped off, resulting in a lower-fat, softer alternative.

Variations

In the U.K.

Pork crackling is the British name for pork rind produced when roasting a joint of pork. The heat of the oven causes the fatty pork skin to dry up and become crunchy. This is then eaten as part of a traditional Sunday roast by some families. In the United Kingdom, pork cracklings or pork scratchings are sold as a snack food in the same way pork rinds are in the USA. Pork scratchings or pork cracklings is the British term for pork rind eaten cold as a snack. Pork Scratchings are typically heavy, hard, have a crispy layer of fat under the skin, and are flavoured with salt.

In Britain, they are known as pork scratchings, and are often eaten as an accompaniment to drinks in a pub. They have been popular in the Black Country since the days when every family used to fatten up a "tunkey pig," slaughter it for meat, and slice the skin with the fat into strips which they would then deep fry.

Pork rinds are a Black Country delicacy. They are also known as pork scratchings or crackling, and hark back to the days when every West Midlands family used to keep pigs in their garden. The Black Country is the original industrialised heartland of the UK, deriving its name from the smoke and soot from the heavy industries such as chain and anchor making, iron works, and heavy mining. The Black Country (pronounced blacountraye by locals) has its own dialect. Most of the pork scatching factories are based in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Tipton.

In the U.S.

Cracklings is the American name for pork rind produced by frying or roasting, though it can be expanded to include the skin of a goose or another animal.

As a snack, cracklings is usually understood to consist of cooked pork rind that has had salt rubbed into it and that has been scored with a sharp knife. This produces a crisp, bubbly outer surface with a layer of cooked fat on the underside. Crackling is considered by some to be an essential part of joint of roast pork. However, the term in cooking also applies to a variety of fatty materials, fried to crispness, such as poultry skin or the remains of trying out for fat of a number of animal products lamb, et cetera.

In the USA, cracklins are fried pieces of pork skin with attached underlying fat which are generally considered to be part of soul food cooking. Cracklins are not frequently served as part of a regular meal unless they are served in cracklin bread, which is cornbread in which cracklins have been placed in the batter prior to its being baked or fried. Rather, they are a snack item which would typically be served at times other than regular mealtimes, and are regarded as more of a delicacy or treat.

Cracklins are naturally very high in fat and cholesterol, which is to be expected considering what they are composed of and the fact that they are generally prepared by being deep-fried or skillet-fried in lard. Cracklins prepared by persons who still conduct the home butchering of hogs, which is still occasionally conducted in the rural South but with decreasing frequency, have a decidedly different taste from those which are available commercially.

In Serbia

In Serbia Pork rind are not cooked but fried in a lot of fat instead, and called "Čvarci". It is one of the oldest known Serbian dishes and most of Slavic people took this dish. Čvarci are most often made during the "svinjokolj" (killing pigs for meat and fat) and most of the people who were there during and after the "svinjokolj" eat them afterwards. It is one of the most popular Serbian peasant food.

Chicharrones

Pork rinds are also popular in Latin America and Spain, where they are known as chicharrones (the singular form, chicharrón, is also used as a mass noun). They are eaten alone as a snack, or as the meat portion in various stews and soups, which can be eaten with cachapas, or as a stuffing in arepas, pupusas, or in a taco or gordita with salsa verde.

They are usually made with different cuts of pork, but sometimes with other meats, like poultry, beef, ram, etc. In Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela chicharrones are also made with chicken and, in Argentina with beef. In these cases they are consumed mostly as snacks.

The cueritos type is a Mexican snack. It is made with pork skins and marinated in vinegar instead of being deep fried. They are eaten as a snack.

In México and the USA, snack-food companies have commercialized a vegetarian version of the deep-fried type, with chile and lime flavorings.

Other countries

In France they are known as grattons and they are also consumed in Spain. In Portugal, they are normally on sale from stands near large popular gatherings, such as football stadiums, and are accompanied with a well chilled beer.

Fried pork skins go by various names in Filipino cuisine like chicharon from the Spanish word chicharrones. They may be referred to by their English name "cracklings" if they contain a considerable portion of meat.

External links

Chicharrón | Tsitsaron

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Pork rind