Chitterlings

Chitterlings(/ˈtʃɪt(ər)lɪŋz/CHIT-linz), sometimes spelledchitlinsorchittlins, are a food most commonly made from thesmall intestinesof pigs,though cow, lamb,gooseand goat may also be used.
They may be filled with aforcemeatto makesausage.
Chitterlingis first documented inMiddle Englishin the formcheterling,c.1400. Various other spellings and dialect forms were used. The primary form and derivation are uncertain.
A 1743 English cookery bookThe Lady's Companion: or, An Infallible Guide to the Fair Sexcontained a recipe for "Calf's Chitterlings" which was essentially a bacon andoffalsausagein a calf's intestinecasing.The recipe explained the use of calves', rather than the more usual pigs', intestines with the comment that "[these] sort of... puddings must be made in summer, when hogs are seldom killed".This recipe was repeated by the English cookery writerHannah Glassein her 1784 cookery bookArt of Cookery.
Linguist Paul Anthony Jones has written, "in the late 1500s achitterlingwas an ornate type ofneck ruff, so called because its frilled edge looked like the folds of a slaughtered animal's entrails".
Disease can be spread by chitterlings not cleaned properly and undercooked. Pathogens includeEscherichia coli,Yersinia enterocolitica, andSalmonella.Chitterlings are often soaked and rinsed thoroughly in several different cycles of cool water, and repeatedly picked clean by hand. They may then be turned inside out, cleaned and boiled, sometimes in baking soda or salt, and the water discarded.
As pigs are a common source of meat in many parts of the world, the dish known as chitterlings can be found in most pork-eating cultures. Chitterlings made from pig intestines are popular in many parts of Europe, and are also eaten in the southern United States.
Kokoretsi,kukurec, orkokoreçare usually prepared and stuffed, then grilled on a spit. In several countries such as Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Bulgaria, lamb intestines are widely used. InTurkish cuisine, the intestines are often chopped and cooked withoregano, peppers, and other spices.
Tricandillesare a traditional dish inGironde. They are made of pigs' small intestines, boiled in bouillon, then grilled on a fire of grapevine cane. This is considered an expensive delicacy.
Andouilletteis a type of sausage, found especially inTroyes, which is made predominantly of pig chitterlings.
Andouilleis another kind of French chitterlings sausage found especially inBrittanyandNormandy.
Saucissonis a type of sausage, which traditionally uses chitterlings both as a packaging and as an ingredient.
Gallinejasare a traditional dish inMadrid. The dish consists ofsheep's small intestines, spleen, and pancreas, fried in their own fat in such a manner that they form small spirals. The dish is served hot, often withFrench fries. Few establishments today servegallinejas, as this is considered to be more of a speciality than a common dish. It is most commonly served during festivals.
Zarajo: A traditional dish fromCuencaiszarajo, braided sheep's intestines rolled on a vine branch and usually broiled, but also sometimes fried, and sometimes smoked, usually served hot as an appetizer ortapa. A similar dish from La Rioja isembuchados, and from the province of Aragon,madejas, all made with sheep's intestines and served as tapas.
Chitterlings were common peasant food in medieval England, and remained a staple of the diet of low-income families right up until the late nineteenth century and not uncommon into the mid-twentieth century.Thomas Hardywrote of chitterlings in his novelTess of the D'Urbervilles, when the father of a poor family, John Durbeyfield, talks of what he would like to eat:
It illustrates that chitterlings were the poorest choice of poor food. George Sturt, writing in 1919 details the food eaten by his farming family inFarnboroughwhen he was a child (probably around 1830):
Chitterlings are the subject of a song by 1970sScrumpy and Westerncomedy folk band,The Wurzels, who come from the southwest of England.
Haggis, made with sheep intestine, is still a common traditional food inScotland.
People in theCaribbeanand inLatin Americaeat chitterlings.Chinchulín(inArgentina,ParaguayandUruguay) orchunchule(inChile) (from theQuechuach'unchul, meaning 'intestine') is the cow's small intestine used as a foodstuff. Other name variations from country to country arecaldo avá(Paraguay),tripasormondongo(Dominican RepublicandPuerto Rico),mondongo(Brazil,Peru,Panama),chunchullo,chinchurriaorchunchurria(Colombia),chinchurria(Venezuela),tripa mishqui(Ecuador),tripe(Jamaica), andtripa(Mexico).
In Jamaica, chitterlings are usually prepared in a number of ways. Usually the intestines of a goat are used as part of the ingredients ofMannish wateror goat belly soup. Sometimes goat head may be included and may simply be called goat head soup, even though most of the ingredients do not constitute goat head alone. The intestines of a cow are usually prepared as a stew in one of three ways. The most popular would be curried tripe and beans where the intestines are cooked down withbutter beansandcurry powder. A similar stew is also made with butter beans but without the curry powder. Less common is a stew that is prepared with red kidney beans instead of butter beans and with no curry powder. In this latter case the stew has a very dark red colour and usually has a thick consistency. In most cases, chitterlings are commonly eaten with white rice, thoughrice and peasmay be preferred.
InMexico,tripasare very popular served as aguisadoin tacos. They are cleaned, boiled, sliced, and then fried until crispy. They are often served with a spicy, tangy tomatillo-based salsa. InGuadalajara, along with the traditional preparation for tacos, they are often prepared as a dish, served with a specialized sauce in a bowl and accompanied by a stack of tortillas, additional complementary sauces, limes, and salt.
Though no longer commonly consumed, chitterlings, commonly called "chitlins", are a traditional food of theSouthern United Statesthat spread nationwide with theBlack Migration.  They are carefully cleaned and rinsed several times before they are boiled or stewed for several hours. A common practice is to place a halved onion in the pot to mitigate the very unpleasant odor that can be particularly strong when the chitterlings begin to cook. Chitterlings sometimes arebatteredand fried after the stewing process and commonly are served with apple cider vinegar and hot sauce as condiments.  Attempts have been made to modernize the dish with microwaveable chitterling snacks developed in the 2010s.
Chitterlings have a strong connection with African-Americansoul foodin the U.S.  A common assumption is that the Southern consumption of chitterlings arose in the pre–Civil Warera of slavery when less desirable parts of the pig, like pigs feet and hog jowls, were given to slaves, while the better cuts went to the slave masters, who were thus said to be "living high on the hog".However, culinary historian Adrian Miller points out that, "Enslaved people did eat chitlins, but white people were eating them as well. In fact, if you look at slave narratives and oral histories of the era, there were quite a few references of making chitlins for the master, and eating intestines was something that was in white culture for centuries before we get to the American South. People that went on hunts would eat the intestines as prized delicacies."
Still Miller calls chitterlings "an iconic dish in African American food traditions, [with] a working-class vibe, even though the dish has shown up at high-class affairs".When plantations held early winter hog-killings, they preserved all parts of the animal that could be preserved by pickling, salting or smoking.Chitterlings, which could not be preserved, were cooked immediately as part of a post-slaughter celebration and served mainly (although not exclusively) to slaves.Because of this tie to special occasions, chitterlings have retained a role as a holiday delicacy,but gained a mixed reputation among African Americans, with some rejecting them as a relic of oppression and others embracing them as a delicacy.
In 1952'sInvisible Man, novelistRalph Ellisontouched on this mixed cultural role of chitterlings among African Americans.By the 1960s the dish had become politicized among black people as a symbol both good and bad.Prominent activists fromEldridge CleavertoElijah MuhammadtoDick Gregorycriticized chitterlings (and often soul food in general), but the dish was also seen as "a way of celebrating the resistance and spirit of survival and creativity that emerged despite the horrific history of racism in this country" in Miller's words.
In 2003, theSmithsonian Institution'sAnacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Cultureaccepted the papers ofShauna Andersonand her restaurant, The Chitlin Market, as part of its emerging collection of materials about African American celebrations, foods andfoodways.In 2007, the Prince Georges County, Maryland government shut down The Chitlin Market when the restaurant's location was rezoned from commercial to residential.
White Southerners, especially of rural origin, have sometimes celebrated the eating of chitterlings.In the 20th century, eating clubs devoted to the dish arose in cities from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Nashville, Tennessee.The town ofSalley, South Carolina, has held an annual Chitlin' Strut Festival since 1966 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and includes a fried chitterling–eating contest.
TheChitlin' Circuit, a collection of performance venues for African Americans, is named for this "potent symbol of resilience in African American creative culture".In 1965, blues harmonica player and vocalistJunior Wellsrecorded a song, "Chitlin Con Carne" on his acclaimedDelmark Recordsalbum,Hoodoo Man Blues. Jazz guitaristKenny Burrellrecorded the unrelatedjazz blues"Chitlins con Carne" on 1963'sMidnight Blue(covered by others includingStevie Ray Vaughan and Double TroubleonThe Sky Is Crying.) Other notable blues songs with references to chitlins were recorded in 1929 byPeg Leg Howell("Chittlin' Supper"), and in 1934 by theMemphis Jug Band("Rukus Juiceand Chittlin'").Gus Jenkins,Johnny Otis, and Arthur Williams have also recorded songs with a reference to chitlins in their title.  Thebluegrassstandard  "It's Chitlin Cooking Time In Cheatham County" takes its name from the dish andCheatham County, Tennessee.
Chitterlings are also eaten as a dish in manyEast Asiancuisines.
Both large and small intestine (typically pig) is eaten throughout China. Large intestine is calledfeichang, literally 'fat intestine' because it is fatty. Small intestine is calledzhufenchang, literally 'pig powder intestine' because it contains a white, pasty or powdery substance called chyme. The characterzhuor 'pig' is added at the beginning to disambiguate. This is because inCantonese cuisine, there is a dish calledcheong funwhich uses intestine-shaped noodles.
Large intestine is typically chopped into rings and has a stronger odor than small intestine. It is added to stir-fry dishes and soups. It is also slow-cooked or boiled and served as a standalone dish. It releases oil that may be visible in the dish. Small intestine is normally chopped into tubes and may be simply boiled and served with a dipping sauce. Preparation techniques and serving presentations for both small and large intestine vary greatly within the country.
In Japan, chitterlings ormotsu(もつ)are often fried and sold on skewers orkushi(串)inkushikatsu(串カツ) orkushiage(串揚げ)restaurants and street vendor pushcarts. When grilled, it is usually calledhorumon(ホルモン), as inHorumonyaki. It is also served as a soup calledmotsuni(もつ煮)with miso, ginger, and finely chopped green onions to cut the smell, as well as other ingredients and internal organs such as the stomach, depending on the preparer. In Okinawa, the soup is callednakamijiru(中身汁)and served without miso as the chitterlings are put through a long cleaning process to get rid of the smell so the miso is not needed. In Nagoya it is calleddoteyaki(どて焼き)and is served with red miso and without the soup. In Fukuoka, it is calledmotsunabe(もつ鍋) and is served as anabestew along with cabbage, chives, mungbean sprout, and tofu.
In Korea, chitterlings (gopchang) are grilled or used for stews (jeongol) in Korea. When they are grilled, they are often accompanied by various seasonings and lettuce leaves (to wrap). Stew is cooked with various vegetables and seasonings.
In the Philippines, pig intestines (Filipino:bituka ng baboy) are used in dishes such asdinuguan(pig blood stew). Grilled intestines are known asisawand eaten asstreet food. Chicken intestines (isaw ng manok, compared toisaw ng baboy) are also used. Pig intestines are also prepared in a similar manner topork rinds, known locally aschicharon. Two distinct types of these are calledchicharon bitukaandchicharon bulaklak, differing in the part of the intestine used.
In New Zealand, sheep and lamb intestine is used, and sometimes pig, and is usually prepared very simply. First, moments after slaughter, a hose is run through the intestine to expel any intestinal matter; the intestine is then usually braided and boiled with cabbage and potato. The dish is calledteroteroin Maori culture.