The affair features a "hawg-calling" contest, country music, arts and crafts, a parade, lots of chitlins (about 8,000 pounds are devoured each year), and chicken for those not enamored of chitlins. Chitlins are prepared by cleaning them well, boiling them until they are tender, and then, after coating them in egg and crumbs, frying them in deep fat until they're crackling crisp.
Salley was named for Col. Dempsey Hammond Salley, who donated the site in the 19th century.
The Chitlin' Strut began in 1966 to raise money for the town's Christmas decorations. The Strut now draws as many as 50,000 people, and Salley, with a population of 700, has used the revenues from it to pay for such necessities as trash cans,signs, and even a fire truck.
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What is a chitlin?
Chitterlings sometimes spelled/pronounced chitlins or chittlins) are a prepared food usually made from the small intestines of a pig, although the intestines of cattle and other animals are sometimes used.
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In the United States
chitterlings are part of the Southern United States culinary tradition commonly called "soul food".
Chitterlings 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 are battered and fried after the stewing process and commonly are served with apple cider vinegar and hot sauce as condiments.
When slavery was legal in America, slave owners commonly fed their slaves as cheaply as possible. At hog butchering time, the best cuts of meat were kept for the master's household and the remainder, such as fatback, snouts, ears, neck bones, feet, and intestines, were given to the slaves. (website)
In 2003, the Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture accepted the papers of Shauna Anderson and her business, The Chitlin Market, as part of its emerging collection of materials about African American celebrations, foods and foodways.
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Resources:
- Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. S.v. "Chitlin' Strut." Retrieved November 24 2018 from Go to freedictionary for contact information
- www.gone-ta-pott.com
- wikipedia.org
