Chittlings

CHITTERLINGS
(CHITLINS)
The winter holidays are here. A great number of people, especially Africans-Americans will be cooking and eating chitlins. I,absolutely,hate them. Chitlins are smelly, don't look appetizing, and are the intestines of a hog. They look exactly like what they are, long gray strands of guts filled with "feces" and must be thoroughly cleaned before they can be prepared. Many a person will hire themselves out to clean them if case the cook doesn't want to or can't.

The orgins of the dish dates back to slavery times when the "ole Massa" would butcher hogs and give the unsuitable parts to the slaves. The slaves made them edible. I would you could call that making lemonade from a lemon. Nowdays there are some Caucasians that eat this so-called delicacy.

Smelling up the house with one of the most disgusting odors in the world irriates me to no end. Some cook say adding a large white onion or a large white potato will cut the odor considerably, but my daughter does this, and the apartment still reeks! The odor can be detected for blocks.

You can bet whenever anyone finds out you're cooking chitlins, they will show up uninvited to get a plate. Chitlins are usually served with hot sauce, cornbread, coleslaw, and greens. It doesn't hurt to have a cold 40 ounce bottle of beer to wash them down. Whenever my daughter cooks them, she swears me to secrecy, as she doesn't want to share them with anyone.

One of the reasons I can't stand them is, it's difficult for me to get past the smell, and another reason is, I can't stop thinking of what they really are and where they came from. Winter holiday meals aren't complete without a pot of "chitlins." Every person that prepares claims to have the cleanest "chitlins." How they figure that one out is a mystery to me.

Some people even fry them and state they're just as tasty. I've yet to find out just what the big deal is!