Gregory Freeman: In Diverse Place Like City, One Man's Chitterling Is Another Man's Kishka. P-D 12/3/1996

Headline: IN DIVERSE PLACE LIKE CITY, ONE MAN'S CHITTERLING IS ANOTHER MAN'S KISHKA
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Dec. 3, 1996
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 9B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

ONCE MORE, it's time to go through the mailbag.

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Dear Greg,

Enjoyed your article yesterday on chitterlings.
   I am Jewish. We have a traditional food item that I have eaten and prepared most of my life. It is called "kishka." Kishka is stuffed beef intestine. The stuffing is very healthy as it is pure chicken fat and flour. Beef fat would probable work too, but there is nothing like "chicken fat." The skin or casing comes from the small intestine of the cow, steer, or more appropriately "cattle."
   Now, get this, kishka skins are no longer available in St. Louis, because I am told that the FDA or other "health authorities" have forced it off the market. We now buy or prepare kishka in artificial casings, and I suspect they are manufactured in "Yucksville, " as they taste like their namesake.
   Consider yourself lucky. I see that cleaned and prepared "chitlins" are available. I am really (miffed) about this situation and have been contacting people via the Internet "around the world" to find a supply of good old kishka skins. I will persevere.

A. Steinberg

Dear A.,

Good luck in finding those kishka skins. I've never tasted kishka myself, but I'm sure plenty of readers have. Surely one of them has some ideas to help you.

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Dear Greg,

I read your column about chitterlings and wanted to let you know that they sell them now at the stores. They're cleaned and cooked, and they even put the Louisiana hot sauce in them. All you have to do is pop them in your microwave.

E. Hughes

Dear E.,

Ah, technology has arrived in the world of soul food! What would my great-grandmother think if she knew that people are now zapping their chitterlings instead of cooking them long and slow, the old-fashioned way? Still, a lot of folks are purists when it comes to this stuff, and they won't trust the cleaning to anyone but themselves. But for people who don't mind or just don't have time for such things, these ready-to-zap chitterlings sound like just the thing.

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Dear Gregory,

Thank you for your excellent column on immigrants in St. Louis. I'm an older student currently enrolled at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, and I often have the good fortune to see and hear students of various national origins as we pass in the hallways, or converse with them in the cafeteria.
We grow in knowledge, understanding and openness with one another - and are better human beings for it. Isn't this was life is really about? Countries and cultures breaking down all barriers between them - with one world as their goal?

I. Kennedy

Dear I.,

I sure think so. St. Louis isn't as diverse as some cities, perhaps, but we do have a variety of people from different cultures and nations here. Instead of being as suspicious or critical of one another as we often are, it seems there's so much more to gain by learning about one another and breaking down those barriers. We can all do a lot more to break down those barriers if we decide to. End of sermon.

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Mr. Freeman,

I am tired of reading your columns about the virtues of the city. Apparently, you don't get it. Many of us - most of us, really - picked up and left the city because we got tired of crime, we got tired of the violence and we got tired of the corruption at City Hall. We don't want to have anything to do with the city. The only real question here is why you continue to live in the city. Surely the Post-Dispatch pays you enough money that you could afford to live in the county.

R. Kennedy

Dear R.,

No one's forcing me to live in the city. I choose to live in St. Louis because I like it. This is no criticism of the suburbs, but I like the diversity the city has to offer. I like the convenience of living minutes away from where I work, of not having to deal with crowded interstates and traffic each day. I enjoy the fact that the area's top cultural and sports institutions are close. I like having a MetroLink stop within walking distance of where I live. As for crime, St. Louis has it, but so does every other major urban area in America.

People choose to live where they feel most comfortable. I feel right at home in the city of St. Louis.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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