Headline: TRADITION, SCHMADITION: IF CHITLINS AREN'T ON YOUR THANKSGIVING MENU, IT'S NOT A REAL HOLIDAY
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Nov. 26, 1996
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 11B, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

WHILE SOME of you are preparing for a mouth-watering turkey this Thanksgiving, my mouth is preparing for something entirely different: chitterlings.
 
They're pronounced chitlins really, unless you're the formal type. Then look for raised eyebrows when you say "chit-ter-lings." I've been eating chitterlings since I can remember, and I love 'em. They're no health food by any stretch of the imagination, and they're certainly not on my diet. But since I eat them maybe once a year, I figure it's OK to take the chance.

Hard as it is for me to believe, some people have never tasted chitterlings. Some have never even heard of them. Unlike calamari, a word someone decided looked better on a menu than the word squid, chitterlings don't hide behind a nice, trendy name. They are, put bluntly, the small intestines of a pig.
  
Don't sound particularly appetizing? Maybe you haven't tasted them. All right, maybe you have. Chitterlings are the kind of food people love or hate.
  
When I grew up, holiday meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas weren't the same without chitterlings with Louisiana hot sauce, ham, a carved turkey, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and sweet potato pie for dessert. My mother cooked the best chitterlings, bar none. She still does. So on Thursday, she's preparing Thanksgiving dinner, which will include the requisite chitterlings.

You don't just eat chitterlings, though. They require cleaning.
   It takes some real work to clean chitterlings. The preparer can spend several hours pulling the fat away from the meat. Chitterlings that aren't cleaned properly can cause a bacterial infection called yersiniosis. But before you say "A-ha, that's why I don't eat chitterlings, " consider that yersiniosis can also come from other foods, including shellfish, tofu, ice cream and milk.
  
Some stores have started carrying pre-cleaned chitterlings, but most chitterling purists turn their noses up at them (and it's not just because of the smell). It's always best to clean your own chitterlings, they insist. Quality control, you know.

After cleaning, chitterlings are put on for a long boil, often with hog maws, a little vinegar and salt and pepper.
  
Chitterlings aren't known for having a great smell when they're cooking, so some people toss in a potato or an apple to help absorb some of the odor. But the smell is worth it once you take your first bite.
  
Some people choose to bread chitterlings and then fry them. There's even a chain of restaurants in Atlanta where you can drive up and order fried chitterlings with french fries and cole slaw.

Some African-Americans are offended by chitterlings because they were eaten by slaves in the Old South because their white masters got the best parts of the pork. The idea that blacks had to eat leftover parts like chitterlings is, to some, demeaning.
  
Because of that, I know some black folks who are closet chitterling eaters. They love them but don't want people to know; they would never order them in a restaurant. Yet chitterlings are a part of African-American history, or at least in the South. In other parts of the country, blacks prepared and ate different foods altogether.

For years, I'd thought that chitterlings were strictly a soul food, something eaten only by African-Americans. I later learned that chitterlings are also popular among many Southern whites, who consider them part of Southern cooking. They're also part of Cajun cooking. That andouille sausage that you like so well? That heavily smoked sausage is made from chitterlings and tripe.
  
It's not just Americans who are eating chitterlings. I've known for years that chitterlings are eaten in Mexico in a spicy, tomato-based soup. But more research found that chitterlings are truly international. In Hungary, I found, chitterlings are used for cases and as stuffing for sausages. Chitterling sausages are also a delicacy in France. And chitterlings can be found in certain Asian dishes.

So while you're slicing that turkey or ham this Thanksgiving, think about me, diving into a plate of chitterlings with all the trimmings.
Pass the hot sauce, please.


COPYRIGHT © 1996, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

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