Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994                   TAG: 9402060076
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD                                LENGTH: Short

EVEN THE ESKIMOS LIKE THEIR CHITLINS

Eating chitlins after butchering a hog probably came from the old-time tradition of frugality and economy, said Vaughn Webb of Ferrum College's Blue Ridge Institute.

"They'd eat everything but the squeal," he said. "But it's a tradition that's falling out of taste because fewer people are butchering now."

Don't tell that to a local grocery store's meat manager. "We carry them all the time," said Noel Saunders of Kroger at Lakeside Plaza. "They sell better in the winter than the summer."

Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays spark a lot of chitlin sales, he said.

Kroger carries uncooked and uncleaned chitlins in 5- and 10-pound buckets. The large bucket costs $6.99. For those who prefer not to clean the intestines, there's a 24-ounce cup of cooked chitlins that sells for $5.99.

Saunders said the cooked cup actually yields more chitlins because chitlins shrink a lot when cooked.

A report from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi indicated chitlins are not only enjoyed by Southerners. Eskimos, central Europeans and residents in the Balkans include them in their diets.

Chitlins are a good source of iron, the study said.

Despite the international scope of chitlin eating, perhaps the largest chitlin event takes place every fall in Salley, S.C.

Up to 20,000 people celebrate the Chitlin Strut Festival, eating nearly five tons of chitlins in one day and doing a gyrating dance known as "The Chitlin Strut." According to the report, the twisting and turning dance is designed to celebrate "the way chitlins make you feel."