Monday, January 01, 2007

Chit'lins offense!

Wow! I had no idea that people were so offended by Chit’lins. There used to be a black owned store in East Orange, NJ that sold 'cleaned' chit’lins and we used to buy them because my mother traditionally cooked them for New Years along with blackeyed peas, collards and macaroni and cheese. UMMMM!

http://www.blacknews.com/pr/chitlinmarket101.html

*August 28, 2006 *CONTACT:*
Shauna Anderson> > 240-432-1500
www.chitlinmarket.com

Chitlin Restaurant Seeks NAACP Help*BUSINESS WOMAN SHAUNA ANDERSON TURNS TO NAACP SEEKING JUSTICE FORMARYLAND'S PG COUNTY GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT TO SHUT DOWN HERNATIONWIDE CHITLIN BUSINESS* *Hyattsville, MD* (BlackNews.com) –

Shauna Anderson, successful businesswoman, accountant and owner of The Chitlin Market will speak to the press regarding her attempts to reveal Prince George County government's attempts to close down her business and prevent her from opening a Chitlin restaurant on Ager Road in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Shauna opened her first retail cleaned Chitlin business in Prince Georges County in 1995. Her first storefront was an instant success after just one article in the Washington Post but she soon received a "Black Sambo" hate letter and a vicious hate email threatening to bomb her restaurant. Despite an FBI investigation, abreak-in and a succession of vandalism, she stuck with it. An anonymous inquiry to the USDA put her business under scrutiny for months before she closed her first Hyattsville, MD location and put her business strictly online.

She then purchased a TDOZ approved property on Ager Road in 2004 intending to once again open a new Chitlin Market. Despite careful and thoughtful renovations of a run down property, harassment started immediately with warning letters, excessive and repeated inspections, code enforcers questioning permits already issued – Shauna had one enforcement officer arrive during a Chitlin Festival who questioned her permit after she showed it to him and he said to Shauna: "They told me they were not going to give it to you."

In the last year Shauna has incurred thousands of dollars in personal property vandalism with a screwdriver through her truck radiator, tires slashed on both her truck and trailer and she received water bills in excess of $1,800.00 that were usually $60.00. After protesting the bill Shauna then received an excessive water bill at her residence. She then received a tax inquiry from the Maryland State Dept of Assessments requesting Corporate Tax Copies for Audit purposes. Shauna taught Corporate tax statistics at the IRS for over a decade.

She has recently been followed in her car, had her car towed illegally and she is now fearful for her safety. Recently a city official voiced his objection to the smell that would be omitted from Shauna's restaurant, even though she had has never once received a complaint about odors. She had inspectors at her property on several occasions threatening to tow her Chitlin Mobile Unit after it had sat on the street for 48 hours. When she questioned why the Taco Trucks directly across the street sat for weeks on end without question - there was no answer.

In April of this year PG County officials revealed their true feelings regarding the opening of a Chitlin restaurant in their community. After an episode of ABC's *Commander in Chief* ran portraying PG County as overridden with crime with a scene of the fictional President exiting her car in front of a Chitlin and Pork Chop restaurant, Peter Shapiro responded to the *Washington Post* in outrage regarding the portrayal of the community and that a Chitlin restaurant is a negative stereotype - and that prompted Shauna to realize how they felt about her business. Shauna Anderson wants to know what they are doing about the crime rate in this community and why they aren't protecting children and putting resources into crime prevention instead of trying to run a small business out of town.

For more information about Shauna Anderson, visit
www.chitlinmarket.com
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I admit, I don't cook Chit'lins. They really look (and smell) foul when being cooked. But I miss it on New Years when my mother cooked them. Now if we analyzed many foods we eat, I'd have to say I’d probably feel just as grossed out about a lot of it. (Have you ever read how hotdogs are made?)

Chit'lins are a ‘soul food’ delicacy in my opinion! That’s how I regard it. It ranks right up there with that big ol’ pot of Pork Neck Bones. Ummmmm! I used to love the neck bones and noodles. Getting the meat off those neck bones was like a skilled art, working that tongue all through those nooks and crannies, sucking them bones dry!

And, its not just 'us' who eat them... Grilled pork intestines are known as Makchang in Korea!

(from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitterlings)



Other cultures have small intestine recipes, for example as part of the Latin American (and especially Argentinian) mixed grill dish parrillada, where they are known as chinchulines and may be of lamb.
Filipino cuisine features a recipe of fried pork intestines called "silit", and another for deep-fried pork intestines, called "chicharon bulaklak".
In Korea, grilled pork intestines are called makchang (막창). Makchang is a Daegu regional delicacy.
In Mexican cuisine, small intestines are known as tripas. Cleaned, boiled, and grilled, tripas are a popular filling for tacos.


Here’s a Chit'lins recipe for those who can still ‘stomach’ them.... (pun intended! LOL!)

http://www.chitterlings.com/chitterling.html

And here’s another link that describes the history of chit’lins...

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/ChitlinsHistory.htm

Pig stomach and intestines. I remember my father telling me that everything except for the ‘squeal’ is eaten from the Pig. I know so many people who were raised on chit’lins and pork, but turn their noses up to pork now. Some claim to be allergic to pork these days. I guess that can happen...



Whatever. I try to eat mostly fish and poultry along with something green and some fruit most days. I’ll have some red meat once or twice a week sometimes, including pork (although some call it ‘the other white meat’). And on New Years... as long as I trust the cook (!!!!!!) I’d have those Chit’lins with some Black Eyed Peas and Collards and Macaroni and Cheese! Once a year ain't gonna kill me!!!!

Aside from all this....


Happy New Year Every One... may we all be blessed with good physical, mental and spiritual health, prosperity along with the ability to live our life to the fullest!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't get with the chitlins. Reading this blog has made me sick

Anonymous said...

Sorry, can't get with the chit'lins. Never had them and don't want to try them. My family's traditional New Year's meal was Callaloo, chit'lins was never on the menu. With that being said, PG county should be ashamed of itself derailing someone's chit'lin dream. It leaves me baffled especially because there is a huge chit'lin market in the Hyattsville area. And like Shauna Anderson said, PG county should be more concerned with fighting crime than worrying about the smell of chit'lins or the preception of a chit'lin store.

Anonymous said...

I grow up eating chitlins. My family can never get enough during the holidays. It's tradition to have them for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some of the grandchildren turn their noses up but almost everyone in my family look forward to them at holiday time. I LOOOOVE CHITLINS!!!