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Discovering Our Culture - Event Blog
The Salley Chitlin Strut
Dec 12, 2009 | Comment(s) 60
Up until last week I had no idea what a Chitlin was. I think Chitlins can best be defined as gross, and I am not alone in this school of thought. In fact, the majority of people that I spoke with also concurred that Chitlins, on a gross scale of 1-10, come in at about a 13.5. Yet despite the universal "gross consensus", every November, people flock by the thousands to Salley S.C. to sample this guttural delicacy. For those who are as unaware as I was, Chitlins are quite literally pig guts. They are the intestines of a hog. They are cleaned, and then boiled, or deep-fried depending your taste preferences.
The small town of Salley, with a population well under 1,000, attracts people from the four corners of the world, and I mean that literally. There were packed tour buses from as far away as Florida, and Alabama, and I even spoke with one gentleman who was from Chile! How this festival has grown to the size that it has is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, the festival itself is great. It's a fun southern atmosphere, with great people and the usual assortment of carnival rides and attractions, but the main draw is of course the Chitlins and they're gross. What's even more perplexing is that the majority of the festival attendees, and event organizers, admit and agree that they are indeed fairly disgusting. Sure, there are always a handful of "newbies" to the event, but most are Chittin Veterans who have been attending this festival for years. At times, the line for the Chitlins was snaking back some 50-100 bodies deep. Throughout the day thousands stood in line, waiting patiently to fill their intestines with, well, more intestines. Surprisingly, I politely declined when I was offered a sample.
I was actually given an exclusive behind the scenes look at the process of preparing and cooking the chitlins. To quote Han Solo from the Empire Strikes Back “And I thought they smelled bad on the outside”. The smell was seriously overwhelming. To prepare the fried variety, the Chitlins are first cleaned, and the dredged in a flour/batter mixture. Then, they are literally shoveled onto massive racks and lowered into huge fryers and cooked until they are a savory golden brown.
The process for cooking the boiled variety is a simple as you might imagine. After being cleaned the Chitlins are placed into giant boiling pots and cooked until Al Dente. The cook staff told me that they go through thousands upon thousands of pounds in one single day.
It was actually the boiled variety that was on the menu for the Chitlin eating contest. Ten brave, and questionably intelligent, souls took their seats at the dinner table. Don’t’ get me wrong, I’m all for a free lunch, but this was pushing it. I have to admit, I nearly lost my own lunch documenting this spectacle. Ever the devoted cameraman though, I kept it together. Though, one contestant very nearly did lose it. Everyone was shoveling boiled guts in their mouths by the handfuls. No need to stand on ceremony here. Everyone had their own strategy too. Some smothered theirs in hot sauce, while others took gulps of lemon juice in between bites. All were vain attempts to disguise what I’m sure must be the most unpleasant of tastes.
It was a heated and close race, but the winner ended up putting away 3.5 lbs in just ten minutes. Yes, EMT’s were actually present, and with good reason. Though, I would not want to be the one to have to apply mouth to mouth.
Of course I'm poking fun here. (Seriously though, Chitlins are really gross) But we had a good time at the festival. Much of the crowd had no knowledge of credit unions. After all, even the nearest ATM was something like 5 miles from the center of town. Though, the people who we spoke with did some seem intrigued, so I think we sparked an interest in some people. Oh, and we had another winner of the CU magnet game. Kelly Cribbs, of Leeville SC, tracked us down at the Strut. He got one of our magnets from the Gaston Collard Festival. By luck of the draw, he won $15.00. Congratulations Kelly.
There was also a hog calling contest and dance off. The two time raining hog calling champ saw himself dethroned after be bested by a female new comer. The dance off came down to two extremely talented competitors. But, in the end the Michael Jackson impersonator was moon walked off the stage leaving the Striper Cowboy as the victor.
The Salley Chitlin Strut is definitely an experience, and one that you most likely won’t find anywhere else. Just be warned, if you decide to check this event out for yourself, you will be trying to get the smell out of your clothes for days. I know I still am.
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