My parents were experts at making every food dollar count. If there was a bone in the meat, it went into the soup pot, and the skin on a ham was fried and seasoned as snack food. Dad used the electric frying pan to render and crisp small slivers of skin. They were so hard that I was afraid they might crack my teeth. He would have loved this recipe for pork skin, puffed and crisp, and not so hard to invite dentistry. But first, a few words about fat - the fringe movement for its redemption, and a few startling scientific findings.

In May 2009, the James Beard Foundation named Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes, by Jennifer McLagan, its Cookbook of the Year. McLagan says she never stopped eating fat, as she was living in France while North America was experiencing the vilification of fat, and promotion of carbs. She states that a low-fat diet might increase life-expectancy by 2 weeks, that having reduced our intake of animal fat, we are not healthier.

McLagan says “Eating fat does not make you fat. Eating too much, too many calories, too much sugar, too many carbs, makes you fat.” The belief that eating fat causes heart disease and heart attacks by raising cholesterol is not proven, she points out. The studies ignored groups such as the Innuit and French, she says, who consume lots of animal fat, and have low rates of heart disease. [p.4, Fat] In other words, they picked and chose the data that supported their hypothesis.

Caution: the cracklings are very hot out of the oven, as is the rendered pork fat

Pork fat is very stable, being low in poly-unsaturated fats, which means it is does not oxidize and go rancid as quickly as poly-unsaturated vegetable oils. This recipe will yield a little rendered (melted) pork fat, which you can save in a jar in the fridge, but if you are serious about cooking in lard (pork fat), you will want to render fat from at least a pound of pork fat. [p.73, Fat] McLagan recommends doing it in the oven on low-heat, but small amounts can be rendered on the stovetop.

My method for pork crackling is derived from McLagan’s Spiced Pork Crackling. She uses bigger pieces of pork skin, placed in a dry marinade of spices and salt for a day or so, scored in strips, and roasted in the oven. [p.76, Fat] I trim almost all the fat off, cut the pieces in small rectangles, and bake without turning. A little dry spice at the end is optional.

Recipe: Snacking Pork Crackling

Cut the skin off a pork shoulder or other cut. If the skin is not dry, let the skin sit in the fridge for a few hours to overnight to dry. Trim the fat to leave just a skim. A little excess is not a problem, but don’t cut off all the fat. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut away from yourself with the knife blade parallel to the cutting board. I find this is easiest with pork rinds about 4 inches [10 cm] wide, and long enough for me to hold with the other hand. If your hands are stronger, a wider piece might not be a problem.

Cut the skin into rectangles, about 1.5 x 1/2 inches (3 x 1 cm). Stretch out the strips on a rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll pan), fat down. The fat helps the rind lie flat, because it’s a little sticky, but it works if you lay the strips fat side up, as in the photos here. The pieces can be quite close together, because they will shrink during cooking, but don’t have them touching.

Lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the pork rind, and then a matching rimmed baking sheet, so they nest tightly - the bottom of the top sheet sits on the parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F/ 175C, and place the nested baking sheets on a rack in the middle. Place a heavy oven-safe pan on top of the nested baking sheets (I use a cast iron skillet), for about 20 to 30 minutes. You might hear the pork rinds “crackling” as they puff. In my kitchen, the extraction fan is pretty noisy, and the radio is even louder, so I have to listen carefully for the crackling noises. If your oven has cold spots, best to rotate the baking sheets after 10 or 15 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the weight, and then the nested baking sheets, being careful not to tip them, as there will be some hot liquid fat that could run out. Lift off the top sheet, and use a spatula to lift a corner of the parchment paper. If the pork rinds are nicely brown, crisp and pocked with bubbles, the crackling is done. If not, return to the oven for a few more minutes.

Use a spatula to lift the crackling to a paper towel to blot off excess fat. Sprinkle with salt and chile powder if desired, and roll back and forth on the paper towel to distribute. Let cool at least a little, transfer to a plate. I use the paper towel to wipe the baking sheet of excess fat before washing.