Plural of cracking; crispy rendered pork fat pieces left over from making lard, commonly used in cooking and baking; also refers to multiple instances of cracking sounds.
From 'crack' plus the '-ing' suffix forming gerunds and nouns. 'Cracklings' (the more common spelling) refers to the sound and texture of crispy pork fat—the pieces literally crackle when eaten or cooked.
Cracklings are having a culinary renaissance—from being 'poor man's food' (the leftover bits of rendered pork fat) to now being a trendy snack and ingredient in gourmet cooking, showing how food value is totally culturally constructed!
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