Chitlins - Gastro Obscura

Chitlins Copy Link Facebook Twitter Reddit Flipboard Pocket

Place of Origin

Alabama Louisiana South Carolina Tennessee Mississippi Kentucky + More– Less

Other Names

Chitterlings

Enslaved people had to sustain themselves using meat scraps—which they transformed into savory, satisfying dishes—from their enslavers’ butchered livestock. One such piece of offal was chitlins, or pig intestines. But chitlins came to represent more than sustenance. During the era of Jim Crow laws, they were a code. Black performers knew that venues serving hog intestines were safe. This collection of restaurants and music venues became known as the “Chitlin Circuit.”

Why were chitlins designated “slave food”? Since one’s social status dictated which part of the animal they ate, enslaved people mostly dined on the trotters (feet), maw (stomach), and chitlins, all of which required intense cleaning. Wealthy people tended to eat the upper portions of leg and back, hence the affluence-denoting phrase “high on the hog.”

But it wasn’t just necessity that led Black Americans to identify with eating chitlins. Western Africans cooked and ate every edible part of animals, so they viewed entrails as more than scraps. These resourceful cooking techniques linger today, as Southerners continue to slow-cook or deep-fry chitlins with vinegar and hot sauce, serving it alongside collard greens and cornbread.

Chitlins remained popular well into the Jim Crow era, when Black eateries served it with other dishes of kindred origin, now known as “soul food.” In addition to indicating where Black artists could perform during this period, the Chitlin Circuit established a touring route that fans could follow.

Today, chitlins are reserved for holiday meals and celebrations, largely because they require so much preparation. In Salley, South Carolina, about 50,000 people attend an annual event called the Chitlin’ Strut. Since the honorary festival began in 1966, it’s produced almost half a million pounds’ worth of chitlin.

Sign up for our newsletter and get the best of Gastro Obscura in your inbox.

Thanks for subscribing! View all newsletters » southporkoffalcivil rightsafrican-americanslavery

Where to Try It

• Orange Mound Grill Website

  1238 Airways Blvd, Memphis, Tennessee, 38114, United States +1-(901) -458-3429

  Take the exit to Southern and go back (north) a block or two to find this restaurant tucked under an overpass. If you're lucky, they'll also have pig feet.

• Granny's Kitchen

  5440 S Central Ave , Los Angeles, California, 90011, United States

  Arrive early on Sunday to catch the weekly chitlin special at this Alameda soul food joint.

• Dorothy's Soul Food Kitchen Website

  1221 Gardere Ln, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70820, United States +1-(225) -757-1146

  Check to make sure Dorothy's has chitterlings in-house before you visit, and don't miss the collard greens.

See 1 More Location +

Written By

rachelrummel

Sources

• whatscookingamerica.net/History/ChitlinsHistory.htm
• www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/high-on-the-hog.html
• www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/soul-food-brief-history
• www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/02/16/275313723/the-origin-and-hot-stank-of-the-chitlin-circuit
• www.aikenstandard.com/news/chitlin-strut-draws-thousands-to-the-small-town-of-salley/article_a30ae524-b410-11e6-ac63-33173a009134.html
• www.aikenstandard.com/news/th-annual-chitlin-strut-brings-the-world-to-salley/article_39e19469-732a-53d5-a549-672fe89ca31d.html

Place of Origin

Alabama Louisiana South Carolina Tennessee Mississippi Kentucky

Other Names

Chitterlings

Regional Foods

Gastro Obscura

West Indies Salad

It's actually a crab dish from Alabama's Gulf Coast.

Gastro Obscura

Southern Butter Rolls

The sweet, spiraled pastries were once a staple on cold days in the American South.

Gastro Obscura

Chocolate Gravy

Sweet sauce tops off buttermilk biscuits in the Appalachian and Ozark mountains.

Gastro Obscura

Jezebel Sauce

Cooks in the Southern United States still whip up this spicy, seductively sweet condiment from the 1950s.

Related Foods

Gastro Obscura

Tuslob Buwa

On the streets of Cebu City, strangers share bubbling woks of pork brain gravy.

Gastro Obscura

Pihtije

Serbians prepare these cold, jellied pork cubes for even colder winters.

Gastro Obscura

Fried Chicken Gizzards

These muscular organs are a crispy, chewy Southern favorite.

Gastro Obscura

Livermush

North Carolina's “poor man’s pâté” is rich in flavor. Questions or Feedback? Contact Us

Thanks for sharing!

Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders.

Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders.

Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook

Order Atlas Obscura: Wild Life Today!

Venture into nature's unseen realms with our new book Wild Life. Explore hidden ecosystems & discover incredible species. Order Now!

We'd Like You to Like Us

Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. aoc-full-screen aoc-heart-solid aoc-compass aoc-flipboard aoc-globe aoc-pocket aoc-share aoc-cancel aoc-video aoc-building aoc-clock aoc-clipboard aoc-help aoc-arrow-right aoc-arrow-left aoc-ticket aoc-place-entry aoc-facebook aoc-instagram aoc-reddit aoc-rss aoc-twitter aoc-accommodation aoc-activity-level aoc-add-a-photo aoc-add-box aoc-add-shape aoc-arrow-forward aoc-been-here aoc-chat-bubbles aoc-close aoc-expand-more aoc-expand-less aoc-forum-flag aoc-group-size aoc-heart-outline aoc-heart-solid aoc-home aoc-important aoc-knife-fork aoc-library-books aoc-link aoc-list-circle-bullets aoc-list aoc-location-add aoc-location aoc-mail aoc-map aoc-menu aoc-more-horizontal aoc-my-location aoc-near-me aoc-notifications-alert aoc-notifications-mentions aoc-notifications-muted aoc-notifications-tracking aoc-open-in-new aoc-pencil aoc-person aoc-pinned aoc-plane-takeoff aoc-plane passport-plane aoc-print aoc-reply aoc-search aoc-shuffle aoc-star aoc-subject aoc-trip-style aoc-unpinned aoc-send aoc-phone aoc-apps aoc-lock aoc-verified