Crackling Good Value

On the general theme of getting something for next to nothing, and making the most of ordinary ingredients.

For years I struggled to make decent crackling. My secret (or not in fact) shame. My late mother-in-law was not a very good cook, but when she roasted pork it came with skin that snapped between the teeth like a Crunchie bar. It pleased and annoyed me every time.

I still cannot do crackling on the joint, but have learned from seeing friends in Sheffield who took the pre-crisping crackling off the joint when the meat was done and off to have a good lie down, then returned the basted skin to a very hot oven. Sunday's joint was done this way, and again it worked. There is a bit more to it than that of course - it is dried and scored before cooking, with an unhealthy amount of salt rubbed into the surface, and is basted at least once while still on the joint.

Little things that make a difference. It turned a good meal into a more enjoyable one, with that extra dimension.

I have on occasion bought from Morrison's sheets of skin to make into crackling (Morrison's the only supermarket that I have yet found that does this, but as I avoid Asda on personal ethical grounds I can't vouch for them). For about 75p you get a couple of rolls of skin that are really easy to make into massive amounts of crackling. If there were a way of comparing fun per penny values in food, that would rate alongside cracking the surface of proper creme brulee or crema catalana (I still can't do accents on Blogger) and biting into a really fresh and very crusty French stick. What is it about that snapping/cracking sensation that makes it pleasurable?