Rewind to the Black Country in the 1800s. Many families keep pigs for food. And not a scrap is wasted, including the rind which is removed and made into scratchings, not unlike the ones we love today.
One of the earliest porky production methods was to take the soft fat under the rind and cook slowly until it became liquid. The heat was then cranked up and the strips of rind would be fried until crisp and seasoned with salt ready for eating.
Scratching as we know them first hit the high streets in the 1930s, when butchers began producing them on a bigger scale – cooking the rind in large aluminium barrels until the top was crisp and the underside still soft.
HANDCOOKED
CRACKLES
SCRATCHINGS
CRUNCH
PRIME CUT
CRISPY STRIPS