Going back to the subject of bacon for a moment, the word ‘flitch’ as another name for a side of bacon, seems to have fallen out of common usage (except as the name for a pub or two). A flitch or side was, as has been said, was what was left after the leg, shoulder and ‘hand’ had been removed (often to make ham and gammon). After curing, this comprised back bacon (the loin) and streaky bacon (the belly) and, in the old days was sliced as a full rasher with the streaky rolled in the middle, rather than being sold separately as today. I remember, as a child, watching my uncle – a master butcher – preparing a side of bacon. This meant carefully cutting out all the bones, rolling it and tying it at intervals with string. This was then sliced on a fearsome-looking bacon slicer into full rashers for each customer, who would specify which setting (which controlled the thickness of the rashers) he or she preferred. Most people I know still refer to sliced bacon as rashers rather than slices – it’s even labelled as such on packets. If anyone is remotely interested on how a side of bacon was prepared, you can read about it in Lillian Beckwith’s lovely book, About My Father’s Business.