00:00 Live Lung being a stiple of the region's food culture, offered alongside hearty points in local taverns,
00:06 the Humble Pork Scratching is deeply rooted in the West Midlands industrial past,
00:10 dating back to the 1800s. As the region industrialised, workers sought out affordable,
00:16 calorie-dense food to sustain themselves. Families would get their pig skin, often from pigs riced at
00:22 home, boil it to remove the hair, cut it up and deep fry it in a pot of fat. The result was a
00:28 crunchy snack that was cost-effective, while offering plenty of flavour. Their association
00:34 with tradition and identity also plays a role in their popularity, intrinsic to our heritage,
00:39 linking current generations with their forebears who worked in the area's factories and mines.
00:44 The emergence of pubs during the period further ingrained pork scratchings in local food culture.
00:50 Publicans offered them at the bar, complimenting the aisles and stouts they served.
00:55 The salty flavour proved to be the perfect accompaniment to a good point, leading local
01:00 people to develop a fondness for them. While they wouldn't traditionally be considered a health food,
01:06 the recent wave of interest in protein-rich, low-carb diets has contributed to a resurgence
01:11 in their popularity elsewhere. Today they're sometimes even marketed as a guilt-free alternative
01:17 to crisps and other carb-heavy snacks. Admittedly, you couldn't be blind for thinking a mix of pig
01:24 skin and lard would be a somewhat acquired taste in an age where more elegant and exotic food is so
01:30 readily available. Do people here in the heart of England still hold much regard for this iconic
01:37 regional snack? I do, they're a very special treat because, you know, I think if you ate them every
01:43 day I think you'd be the size of a mouse, but I absolutely love them, so yes I do still eat them
01:47 and really enjoy them, brilliant. Probably only when I'm at the pub, or at Christmas, get them a lot
01:54 of Christmas, that's about it. I used to eat them, don't eat them anymore, when I did eat them, yeah
02:00 they were nice, crunchy, salty, good with beer, good snack. Yeah I've tried it before, it's not a snack
02:08 that I particularly have or will buy, yeah it's all right, yeah. We've never tried pork spratchings
02:16 and we don't want to either, no no, we're vegetarian. Have you ever tried pork scratchings? I haven't, no.
02:23 Yes please.
02:25 A bit tough.
02:31 It's all right to be fair, quite nice. Do you think you'd try them again? Don't think so. For better or worse,
02:41 pork scratchings possess a strong history here, tied closely to the region's economic and cultural
02:46 development, arising from habits of frugality and resourcefulness, since becoming a beloved part of
02:52 the region's culinary identity. In many ways it could be said their enduring popularity pays
02:58 testament to the resilience, adaptability and character of people here in the West Midlands.
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