An invitation to a “Trotter Round Oxford” is not to be missed, particularly when it is organised by Rupert Ponsonby and his R&R Teamwork team on behalf of Brakspear beer.

Over the years, Rupert has come up with some quite remarkable ways of matching beer with food. This time he planned to introduce us to the delights of pork scratchings — yes pork scratchings! And Brakspear brews.

He was convinced that like him we would soon realise that an evening nibbling pork scratchings and quaffing Oxford Gold or Brakspear Bitter can become a gourmet experience if you are prepared to relax and allow the flavours to mingle.

Our evening took in two Oxford inns — The Chequers at 131a High Street, which stands down one of the medieval passages off the High Street, and The Crown, which is also found at the end of an old passageway, but this time off Cornmarket Street. The Chequers was originally a private house owned by a moneylender. It was rebuilt as a tavern in 1466, with oak panelling, a stone fireplace and carved stone work, much of which remains today. This is one reason why this pub is so atmospheric.

The Crown, reckoned to be one of the oldest remaining inn sites in Oxford, is equally full of character. It also began life as a private house, being turned into an inn during 1364. Legend has it that Shakespeare stayed here occasionally when travelling through the city. When builders revealed a sealed room in an old part of the inn containing some of Shakespeare’s papers this story was verified. The papers are now in the British Museum.

It would be fun to imagine that early travellers using these taverns enjoyed a dish of pork scratchings while sipping their beer — not so, apparently. Pork scratchings are believed to have originated in Birmingham and the Black Country area of the Mdlands in the 1800s. That hasn’t stopped me imagining Shakespeare ripping hot crackling off a freshly cooked joint of pork and enjoying its crunch while he quaffed his ale.

But that is called crackling, and is taken from any part of the pig, whereas pork scratchings are made from the rind and underlying fat from the pig’s shanks (back legs) above the ankle, just two strips a mere 0-75mm long, by 18mm wide, by 4-6 mm thick. The strips of rind are usually frozen in blocks before being cut and cooked in boiling vats of their own lard for 90 minutes. Apparently, pork scratching are now becoming a fashionable “must-have” snack, owing to the recession, though it could also be because they taste good.

Until I “trotted round Oxford”, I had assumed there was just one kind of pork scratching, and that it wasn’t a food to be taken seriously. How wrong could I be?

There are four different ways of cooking them. First there are single cooked pork scratchings with a crunchy top and a supple layer of fat underneath; double cooked pork scratchings (often called crackling) have more moisture extracted so that the top is crunchier, more blistered and puffed up, with a roasted texture underneath. Then there’s Crunch that is double deep-fried and puffed up with the texture of prawn crackers that melt in the mouth — but with far more flavour. Last but by no means least, there’s Leaf, which is fat in its purest form: no rind just fat. I am assured that it takes more than 10 kilos of belly fat to make one kilo of leaf as it is pure, rendered-down pork flare fat that produces a pork scratching as light as a feather but without the expected crunch. Leaf is classified as the Marmite of the scratching world.

Graham Jebb, the owner of Ray Gray Snacks, provided samples of all four types for us to try. He had never conducted a beer and scratching tasting before and was delighted to discover just how well they went together.

My favourite combination was the Brakspear Oxford Gold matched the Crunch scratchings. They paired well as Oxford Gold has such a delightful fresh, orangey aroma on a buttery, honeyed base. At the Crown we were served a delicious fish pie with a topping made of scratchings (see the recipe on the left)), as well as a dish of scratchings dipped in chocolate. Rupert supplied a Meantime Chocolate Beer to accompany this dish. As this beer, with its silky finish, is rather like drinking chocolate mousse created from rich bitter chocolate, the combination was irresistible.

Brakspear’s Bitter went well with the double-cooked pork scratchings and Brakspear Triple seemed to complement them all.

I’m aware that some readers may see me as being quite irresponsible by highlighting pork scratchings, particularly as their fat content is equal to that found in potato crisps and they contain five times more sodium than crisps. In my defence I say that just now and again it is fun to eat something that is naughty but nice and the beer was great.