Lessons from the Land of Pork Scratchings
 

Anyone else read this book?
I received it for Christmas. It is by Greg Gutfeld of "Red Eye" and is a collection of essays and observations from his 2 years in London. Gutfeld's humor (sometimes a bit crude) won't appeal to everyone, but I found it to be a funny and easy read.

Is pork scratchings a british term for bum picking?

don't think so, it's just fried pork rinds.

It's a nice bit of crackling, for those that like that sort of thing (I don't, myself):

http://www.porkscratchingworld.com/

I have heard of people eating pig feet..ick. What is a pork rind? Lips? More ick.

Not sure about my reading comprehension, but I think it is the skin. Apparently the "scratchings" are often available in pubs and is one of the experiences shared in the book.

have heard of people eating pig feet..ick. What is a pork rind? Lips? More ick.>>

Roger - did you not read the link so kindly posted by Patrick? do yanks [oops, must be catching, I've been reading too much CW] not eat crackling?

FYI, an essential component of any UK roast pork dinner is the crisp crackling, or skin, produced by rubbing it with salt before putting the joint into a hot oven, which you then turn down so as to cook the meat.

we may not be TOTPs in the culinary stakes, but we can cook pork.

Bitter, - wil i find it on amazon?

regards, ann

No, didn't read at the time, but went back after your post. I had a good Sunday roast pork dinner in Haltwhistle two years back and don't recall any skin being served. Wasn't too bad if you like gravy over your meat and vegetables.

Why is eating a pig's foot "ick", whereas eating a pig's muscle, or smoked bits of its back, or minced up nameless bits of whatever the butcher feels like is supposed to be just fine?

Surely it's absurd, braindead, old-maid sqeamishness that deserves castigation? Stupid whinger'll be telling us she won't eat rabbit next. Or pigeon.

Or are there just two species of land animal - cow and cock - that are acceptable human fare?

"I had a good Sunday roast pork dinner in Haltwhistle two years back and don't recall any skin being served"

So which packed up? Your memory or your taste buds?

A "good roast pork dinner" without crackling is an impossibility. So you've either forgotten or didn't clock what you ate, or they had you marked as a gullible tourist they could serve the muck they'd never dare palm off on anyone else.

rogeruktm: You simply must get out more :) They sell pork rinds right in your local Safeway/Raley's/super market - on the same racks as the potato/tortilla chips and pretzels.

Not as good as home made but not bad . . . .

roger - I am seriously concerned about your education.

like humans, pigs have skin. it's that leathery coat that stops their innards falling out. in the UK, pig meat is usually sold with the skin on - is that not the case in the US?

I can only assume that they nicked teh crackling off your plate and ate it themselves or gave it to someone more discerning. flanner and I are forming a queue for it as we post!

regards, ann

No skin on our pork, we send it off to our skin starved kin in Britain. No skin on chops, roast, bacon or other parts like ribs.

Rabbit! Rabbits are pets. We don't eat our friends.

This thread is an education for me as well - I always thought the "crackling" was a layer of fat which had gone crispy and delicious from the cooking...

Rabbits are indeed pets, but bloody tasty in a stew as well :)

"in the UK, pig meat is usually sold with the skin on - is that not the case in the US?"

I was horrified when I moved to Scotland and learned that traditionally pork joints were sold sans skin and therefore crackling was unknown. But I've always managed to buy it with skin on, so Scots butchers must have got educated in recent years.

The best crackling I've ever had was in Berlin, though - Germany is *the* place for slap-up porky dinners.

annhig - there was a post in the lounge a few days ago asking how to cook a great roast pork. It didn't look to me like they had crackling so I asked and they don't. I can't imagine my roast pork with a nice bit of crackling.

How is London the "Land of Pork Scratchings"?

Surely if anywhere is the land of pork scratchings it's the black country? Yam-yams love their scratchings.

London is the land of jellied eels.

"in the UK, pig meat is usually sold with the skin on - is that not the case in the US" - I now live in North Carolina, and back when I cooked for a family of six I found pork with skin on and was able to fix a "proper" roast with lovely crackling. I think this may be a southern thing though - here you can also buy packets of something masquerading as pork rinds - they are very light and not the same thing at all....

Pork scratchings - you might as well just do cholesterol intravenously.

One of those things that you know are bad for you, but become irresistable after a certain level of blood alcohol is reached.

Ann: I think it was purchased on Amazon. The cover has the price in pounds.
Notwithstanding this thread, the book is not about pork scratchings. I think there is one entry about them. I think the subtitle is something about a yank in Brittain and basically has sometimes humorous observations. I'm not suggesting this is, um, literature, but I enjoyed it and actually laughed out loud (or at least giggled).