This topic was suggested to me by Wayne, the barman in The Rising Sun public house in Stanford Le Hope, Essex.

The terms ‘delicacy’ and ‘bar snacks’ don’t sit well together, and I’m afraid this posting is no exception.

There’s no way to gloss this one up, in simple terms, ‘Pork Scratchings’ are deep fried pork rind.

A slightly more respectable form of cooked pork rind is ‘crackling’ – this is created by salting the flesh of a pork joint before roasting. The skin crisps during cooking and is usually served alongside a roast pork meal.

Scratchings, on the other hand, are deep fried and salted, and served cold in packets, much like potato crisps. The consensus is that they’re actually healthier than potato crisps, being high in protein and low in carbohydrates and have actually been taken on Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.