Pork rind
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Pork rinds are a snack food made from chunks (called 'pellets') of cured pork skin (sometimes including portions of meat as well), 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.
In the Southern United States, pork rinds are considered a delicacy and an object of craving, whereas in the North they are often regarded with something akin to horror due to their origins, high fat content, and perceived crudity as a snack food.
Pork rinds are also popular in Latin America, where they are known as chicharrones (the singular form, chicharrón, is also used as a mass noun). They are eaten alone as a snack, with cachapas, as a stuffing in arepas or pupusas, or as the meat portion of various stews and soups. In France they are known as grattons and they are also consumed in Spain. In Britain, they are known as pork scratchings, and are often eaten as an accompaniment to drinks in a pub. Pork scratchings are considered by the British to be somewhat plebeian.
Microwaveable pork rinds are sold which pop like popcorn and can be eaten still warm.
Pickled pork rinds, on the other hand, are best 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.
There is current interest in pork rinds as a healthy snack food, due to the Atkins diet – since pork rinds contain no carbohydrates. They are, however, extremely high in fat and sodium, and may generally be considered more delicious, to those who enjoy them, than healthy.
Unfried pork rind is also processed into colorful and appealing shapes for use as fish bait.
When he was in the White House, U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush said that pork rinds were his favorite snack.
External link
- The Online Pork Rind Resource (http://www.porkrind.com/porkrind.htm)