Cracklings Explained

Cracklings (American English), crackling (British English),[1] also known as scratchings, are the solid material which remains after rendering animal fat and skin to produce lard, tallow, or schmaltz, or as the result of roasting meat. It is often eaten as a snack food or made into animal feed. It is also used in cooking.[2]

Cracklings are most commonly made from pork, goose, and chicken, but are also made from other poultry and from beef, lamb and mutton.[3]

Sources of cracklings

French cuisine

In French cuisine, cracklings (grillons, grattons, gratterons, frittons) may be made from pork, goose, duck or turkey. These are salted while hot and eaten as an hors-d'œuvre, especially in the southwest.[4] Duck 'frittons' are said to come originally from Burgundy.[5]

Pork

See main article: Pork rind. Pig skin made into cracklings are a popular ingredient worldwide: in the British, Central European, Quebecois (oreilles de crisse), Latin American and Spanish (chicharrones), East Asian, Southeast Asian, Southern United States, and Cajun (grattons) cuisines. They are often eaten as snacks. In Hungary, they are popular as a breakfast or dinner food.[6]

Beef

See main article: Krupuk kulit. Krupuk kulit is an Indonesian cracker (krupuk) made of beef skin.In Argentina and Uruguay cracklings extracted from tallow are called chicharrones and are a common filling for traditional breads.

Poultry

Goose cracklings are popular in Central European cuisine.[7]

Chicken and goose cracklings are popular in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, and are called gribenes.

Lamb and mutton

Cracklings from fat-tailed sheep were until recently a popular ingredient in Persian cuisine:

Uses

Cracklings are used to enrich a wide variety of foods, from soups to desserts. Modern recipes sometimes substitute crumbled cooked bacon.[8]

In German cuisine, cracklings of pork or goose (Grieben) are often added to lard (Schmalz) when it is used as a bread spread.[9]

Crackling is often added to doughs and batters to make crackling bread[2] (French pompe aux grattons[10]), crackling biscuits (Hungarian tepertős pogácsa[6]), or potato pancakes (oladyi).[11]

Salted cracklings are widely used as a snack food.

Cracklings have been used as a supplement to various kinds of animal feed, including for poultry, dogs, and pigs.[12]

Notes

  1. [Oxford English Dictionary]
  2. [Alan Davidson (food writer)|Alan Davidson]
  3. Federal Board for Vocational Education, "The Home Project as a Phase of Vocational Agricultural Education", Bulletin no. 21, Agricultural Series no. 3 (September 1918) p. 85
  4. Prosper Montagné; Charlotte Turgeon and Nina Froud, eds., Larousse gastronomique: the encyclopedia of food, wine & cookery Crown, 1961. English translation of the 1938 edition., s.v. grattons, p. 473
  5. http://www.vin-vigne.com/mets-vins/plat-principal/viande-rouge-frite-beignet-de-viande-rouge/fritons-de-canard.html Les fritons de canard
  6. George Lang, The Cuisine of Hungary, Bonanza Books, 1971,, p. 92, 350
  7. Michael Roddy, "Trip Tips: Hungary, where goose is king - and eaten - for a month", Reuters, November 21, 2014
  8. "Cream of Split Pea Soup", Stephanie Fleischer Osser, Bernard Clayton, The Complete Book of Soups and Stews, 1987,, p. 329
  9. Ursula Heinzelmann, Food Culture in Germany, 2008,, p. 64
  10. Patricia Wells, et al., The Food Lover's Guide to France, 1987,, p. 534
  11. V.A. Bolotnikova, Byelorussian Cuisine, 1979, p. 78
  12. "Use of Cracklings in Feeds", The National Provisioner January 25, 2019 p. 18

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