Pork
Scratchings by Peter
Lippitt
If you buy a packet of pork scratchings – the kind of thing pubs sell – you probably won't notice a Black Country postcode printed on the reverse. Peter Lippitt investigates…
Most butchers in this north-west corner of the West Midlands sell pork scratchings, not just the commercial variety sold throughout the UK, but ones that are virtually unknown outside the region – leaf scratchings.
To find out more, I visited Shaun Simmons at his family’s factory in Walsall. Graham Simmons, now 60, began work as a butcher at the age of eleven, embracing the spirit of enterprise when he witnessed the decline in pork butchers in the Black Country, and decided to specialise in the production of pork scratchings. Sons, Shaun and Mark, followed in the old man’s footsteps, and now G Simmons and Sons are considered to produce some of the best pork scratchings in the UK. I discovered that they make three varieties: leaf scratchings, pork scratchings and pork crunch. Each type uses rind and fat from three different pork joints. As far as taste goes, there is not much in it; it’s with the texture that the similarities depart.
...now G Simmons and Sons are considered to produce some of the best pork scratchings in the UK...
Leaf scratchings (also known as pressed scratchings), are made from the layer of fat that runs on the inside of the ribs found in belly draft. Traditionally, leaf is produced by using a circular press that slowly squeezes out excess lard, which then produces the leaf – so called because the shape resembles the wavy edges of oak leaves. It’s expensive to produce as it takes 60lbs of pure fat to make a 20lb wheel, and the process takes eight hours. You are then left with a residue, a wheel of leaf that looks, in its final dry state, like a 40-inch diameter digestive biscuit. It is then distributed to a band of hardcore Black Country butchers, who sell it in their shops, usually placed in help-yourself bags with red-back tape. The Simmons believe that they are the only leaf producer in the U.K.
Pork scratchings are their most popular line, the ones most often found in pubs, eaten as a snack with a pint of local brew. These gnarly, finger-sized gobbets of pork fat begin life as the rind from the leg and shoulder. We watched an employee unload a crate-full of rind into one of the massive circular vats, where they will be fried for a couple of hours before being left to drain. Freshly cooked they have a soft texture and a wonderful flavour, even before the all-important seasoning is applied. They seem to harden the longer they are left. I ask what the seasoning consists of. Predictably, I’m told that it’s a trade secret.
The third variety of scratching is pork crunch. Crunch comes from the back and contains much less fat than the other two. It has to be. As Shaun points out, “the thinner the better.
 The secret of making good crunch is to cook them for three to four hours in lard and then leave them for a couple of days until they are ready to be “blown”, the term that Shaun uses to explain the process of creating the crunch. And this is the best part. For some reason Shaun is unable to explain, something happens to them when they’re finally fried quickly in hot oil. Only when you have tasted crunch can you see why they are legendary – crunchy, puffed out, with air holes where the rind has expanded during cooking; something I’m sure Heston Blumenthal could replicate in his kitchen, to spectacular effect!
...And this is the best part. For some reason Shaun is unable to explain, something happens to them when they’re finally fried quickly in hot oil...
A lot has happened in twenty years. The family has gone from producing no-name scratchings, cooked in second-hand cast iron boilers, to supplying breweries, local butchers and supermarkets. On the back of a recent order from a well-known supermarket chain, they have purchased a labelling machine and automated packaging equipment. They have also increased the amount of boilers they use and increased capacity by operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using Sunday to clean the factory from top to bottom. It’s a real success story borne out of a Black Country tradition.
|
 |
|
