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Pork rind is the skin of a pig. Cooked, this may be either eaten warm with a meal, or served cold as a snack. In both forms any fat attached to the skin at the time of frying is absorbed in the process. more...

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Pork rind as a snack

When used as a snack food, chunks of cured pork skins are deep-fried and puffed into light, irregular curls, and often seasoned with chili pepper or barbecue flavoring.

Microwavable pork rinds are sold which pop like popcorn and can be eaten still warm. Pickled pork rinds, on the other hand, are often enjoyed refrigerated and cold. Unlike the crisp and fluffy texture of fried pork rinds, pickled pork rinds are very rich and buttery, much like foie gras. Unfried pork rind is also processed into colorful and appealing shapes for use as fish bait.

When he was in the White House, U.S. President George H. W. Bush said that pork rinds were his favorite snack.

Health issues

There is some interest in pork rinds as a healthy snack food due to the Atkins diet, since pork rinds contain no carbohydrates (unless flavored). They are, however, high in fat and sodium. The fat content of pork rinds is similar to that of potato chips, but the amount of sodium in a serving of pork rinds is nearly five times that of a serving of potato chips. For example, a 14 gram serving of Utz Regular Pork Rinds contains 5 g of fat and 230 mg of sodium, whereas the same serving of Utz Regular Potato Chips contains 4.5 g of fat and 47 mg of sodium. Pork rinds generally contain 8 g of protein in a 14 g serving, more than any food except dried meats such as jerky. The fat content of jerky, however, is much lower. Microwaveable pork rinds are lower in fat than the deep-fried variety, with only 2 g of fat per 14 g serving and no saturated fat, although the sodium level may be as high as 350 mg per serving. The high protein content of pork rinds makes them more nutritious than some low-fat snack foods, such as fat-free pretzels.

According to Men's Health:

A 1-ounce (=28.35g) serving contains zero carbohydrates, 17 grams (g) of protein, and 9 g fat. That's nine times the protein and less fat than you'll find in a serving of carb-packed potato chips. Even better, 43 percent of a pork rind's fat is unsaturated, and most of that is oleic acid — the same healthy fat found in olive oil. Another 13 percent of its fat content is stearic acid, a type of saturated fat that's considered harmless, because it doesn't raise cholesterol levels.

Origin

The consensus is that pork scratchings originated in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, in England. It would seem that pork scratchings were very much a food of the working classes which have their origin in the 1800s when it was produced as part of the tradition of families keeping their own pig at home and feeding it up for slaughter.

Read more at Wikipedia.org