DCHP-2

scrunchions cruncheons, scrunche(o)ns, scrunchings, scrunchins Scrunchions is the most frequently found form today. DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• 1 n. plural — Newfoundland, dated

  pieces of animal fat or fish liver, usually after most oil has been removed.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — Scrunchions, a word that has long been used in Newfoundland fisheries in relation to seal or cod liver oil, likely derives from the English dialectal word scrunching(s), meaning 'remnants of food; scraps' (see EDD, s.v. "scrunching" (1)). Clarke (2010b: 118) suggests that because of Newfoundland's profound dependency on the sea and fishing industry, many words have been semantically narrowed to refer mainly to a maritime context, which is the case here.

  See also: seal fishery  

  • 1844  The [seal fat] as it is skinned is removed to a stage, where it is chopped into small portions, and then pushed into a vat beneath. Here it is allowed to remain, covered from the sun, until the advancing heat of spring melts the fat from the cellular tissue, which, when the oil has been drawn off, is rejected under the name of scruncheons. 
  • 1916  So short and so expensive is coal this year that we have tried every method to economize, and have been firing with the "scrunchings" of cod liver oil, a cake from which the oil has been largely extracted by pressure. 
  • 1926  The industry is for the reducing of the residue from cod's livers after the oil has been pressed -- known as "scrunchions," -- to a fine dry meal to be used as chicken food. The "scrunchions" which are collected from various oil factories through the Island are conveyed here by schooners and rail and are broken up into steel pans about forty inches by fourteen and two inches deep. 
  • 1995  A lower-grade liver oil was produced from the 'scruncheons' left in the cookers. These were recovered, placed in flour sacks and compressed, rendering 'Black Common Oil.' Both grades of oil were shipped to the Tors Cove Trading Company in St. John's. 

• 2 n. plural — Food, Newfoundland

  cubed fatback pork, usually fried and served as a garnish, especially over fish and brewis.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — When the term scrunchions shifted from the fisheries (see meaning 1) to everyday use, it narrowed even further to refer specifically to fried fatback pork cooked with fish dishes (Kirwin 2006: 28). The term is not exclusive to Canada (see Chart 1); it is most widely used in Newfoundland (see Chart 2).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "scruncheon", which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)".

  See also: fish and brewis  touton  vang  cod tongue  

  • 1944  Have you ever eaten seal flipper ("phripper," Captain Cartwright called it, back in the 1770's)? [...] It is more tender than any meat you can buy. Or parboil it a little longer and try it with onions and scrunchions (little pork scraps). 
  • 1951  "Well, we finally got the fish and, of course the salt pork for scrunchins -- some day we may get the hard tack and make brewis." 
  • 1966  SALTED FAT PORK. Twenty informants stated that salt pork is the general term for all types of salted pork, and that the usual very fat kind used for scruncheons is called fat-back pork. 
  • 1975  The next day the lady of the house would pinch out a certain amount of dough. This was placed on a frying pan with rendered out particles of pork, known as scruncheons. When it was fried it was given out for breakfast and called toutens, and to be quite honest they were delicious. 
  • 1987  Young dandelion leaves, well chilled, then cooked until tender in the drippings and scrunchions from two slices of fat salt pork, without any added water, and seasoned to taste with pepper and vinegar, are a delicacy to be enjoyed as long as tender leaves can be found. 
  • 1996  "I put scrunchins [i.e., fried cubes of fatback pork]. That's what they're (on with)." 
  • 2006  The dish is frequently sprinkled with "scruncheons," which are crisp fried bits of salt fat-back pork, and the scruncheons are sometimes fries with onions[...]. 
  • 2010  Scrunchions are small cubes of salted pork fat, rendered out for pan frying, and are usually served scattered over fish or meat. Amazing with tongues, cheeks or pan-fried cod, restaurants all over Newfoundland will oblige a not too health-conscious patron with scrunchions.