Chitterlings

Chitterlings, or chitlins, is an old European name for the intestines of hogs (or a sausage made from them). All pork butchering, generally a winter activity, provided plenty of chitterlings and a stomach (hog maw or ponce), which required lots of cleaning and then could be made into sausages or stews. All peasant cultures have dishes of both types, just as Native Americans had recipes for the innards of buffalo. Uniquely in the United States, the slave system directed all choice cuts and smoked hams to a small privileged class of owners and overseers, while assigning all the chitterlings, hog maws, and lesser parts to African American slaves.