We can’t discuss what’s good about chitterlings–their distinctive taste, their ability to evoke good friends and good times, their venerable place among Southern delicacies–without discussing what’s bad about them.
Chitterlings–pronounced “chitlins”–stink.
Their foul odor, said one former chitterling eater, smells “like a pot full of dirty socks boiling.”
Sort of how you’d expect pig intestines to smell. Which chitterlings are.
They’re also a lot of work. Buy a 20-pound bucket of chitterlings, and expect to stand over the sink cleaning them for at least four hours–scraping off all that fatty membrane until the cleaned, pinkish noodle is about half its original size.
Over the years, chitterlings also have held a stigma. Their slave origins and lack of nutritional value hold limited appeal to the more sophisticated, health-conscious connoisseur.
But the stigma attached to chitterlings is being erased, thanks in large part to upscale soul-food restaurants such as Sylvia’s in Harlem in New York that serve them.
And now there is a specialty market in Hyattsville, Md., that makes chitterlings available, edible and credible.
The Chitlin Market and Co., operated by Shauna Anderson, offers fully cleaned chitterlings, ready to rinse and cook, which cuts preparation time to 15 minutes. The market also ships chitterlings in polar packs within 72 hours (800-933-2448) of orders’ placement.
But more important, Anderson’s company has introduced a new generation to chitterlings and has enabled long-time chitterling eaters to “come out of the closet.”
“We can’t clean them fast enough,” Anderson said.
Her company, established two years ago, sells 15,000 pounds a chitterlings a month, 25 percent through the mail. She has an e-mail address and a Web site: www.chitlinmarket.com
Although Anderson, 42, is doing big business, she is also aware of the love-hate relationship African-Americans have with chitterlings. Although they acknowledge chitterlings as a vital link to their history in the U.S., blacks also view them as a painful reminder of their past.
Chitterlings and other parts of the pig discarded by plantation owners–such as pig’s feet and ears, hog maws and salt pork–were all that was made available to slaves.
Yet with creativity, slaves turned pork rejects and other foods, such as beans, greens, yams and corn bread, into the succulent delights now known as soul food, a style of cooking enjoyed around the world.
Chitterlings are like other unlikely foods claimed as delicacies by various ethnic groups. The British serve tripe (stomach) with white sauce and potatoes. Asian cultures serve boiled duck and chicken eggs–with a developed chick inside. Then there’s that Philadelphia favorite, scrapple, made of sundry scraps of the pig.
Still the stigma of chitterlings has remained.
Anderson, however, says you can go into the Chitlin Market and buy chitterlings with no shame. “Everybody is coming in here to buy the same thing,” she says.
The menu includes barbecued spareribs, potato salad, collard greens, corn bread, and candied yams and apples. But her chitterlings outsell the other selections 2 to 1. You can buy them hand-cleaned for $3.99 a pound or cooked for $9.
In the back of Anderson’s neat storefront market, 12 chitterling cleaners work in two shifts.
Store manager Angela Holmes, a childhood friend of Anderson’s, is busy preparing a pot.
“We used to always have them at my mom’s house,” said Holmes, whose parents migrated to Washington from North Carolina. “We would eat 140 pounds at Christmas. I would take off eight hours to clean my four buckets.”
When Anderson told Holmes about her plan to open a chitterling market, her friend retorted, “You mean I’m going to quit my good government job to clean chitterlings?’ “
That’s exactly what Anderson had in mind.
A former statistician for the Internal Revenue Service, Anderson test-marketed her idea from Baltimore to Richmond, Va., to gauge demand. Then she advertised for six chitterling cleaners and got 150 responses.
Although chitterlings are traditionally served with soul-food meals at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, Anderson says there doesn’t seem to be any set buying pattern.
“We had a 95-degree day, and it was packed in here. Apparently when people have a taste for chitterlings is when they want them.”
Chitterlings can be ordered from the Chitlin Market and Co. in quantities of 10 and 20 pounds. The cost is $43.90 for 10 pounds and $87.80 for 20 pounds, plus shipping. That’s all chitterlings, no fat, no waste. This recipe accompanies the chitterlings:
Rinse and place 10 pounds cleaned chitterlings in large pot and cover with water. Heat to a boil, remove from heat and rinse. Add clean water to cover plus 1/2 bunch celery cut in 4-inch pieces, 2 sliced onions, 1/2 cup apple-cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Stir, heat to a boil, reduce heat to medium to keep a continuous boil. Check often to prevent sticking. Cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until they are fork-tender.
