Have you ever eaten a chicken foot? I mean, toenails and all? What a sight to walk in a kitchen only to find a pot of chicken feet boiling away. It's like someone is in that pot clawing to get out which gave us nightmares for days after.
My grandfather believed in eating every organ of anything he was going to slaughter and that included chickens. I have never made rhyme or reason out of this. I digress. He never ate the head as far as I know.
There is no meat to eat on a chicken foot - only skin. The toenails are hanging to one side as a person gnaws down on the spindly claw and you have to turn your head to continue eating your vegetables. I say vegetables because no one wanted anything to do with the chicken after we saw the chicken feet clawside up on grandmothers' china platter.
These parts of the chicken, as we used to say, reminded us of a past governor's arms and hands, are sold in stores, all packaged up in the deep south (Whether they are sold in other parts of the country, I do not know). When I saw them, I felt better about my grandparents eating them. I suppose they had to serve the entire chicken(s) since they had such a huge family.
I could never bring myself to eat them even after I saw my grandmother cleaning out the 'toe jam' over and over to be sure they were spotless.
There would have been only one thing I would have done with that foot and that would have been to paint the toenails a real, deep red to add some color.
How about a chitlin'? That is the entrails of a hog that has been cleaned, boiled and fried. Or just boiled. If you've never smelled a chitlin' boiling, I will give you some insight as to what it's like.
My mother and her twelve brothers and sisters, even after they had lived the city life, traveled other countries and been introduced to sophisticated cuisine, loved to buy a batch of chitlin's and pig out (no pun intended lol). One day, my mother's sister was visiting her and they decided to do the same.
My son was around three, at the time, and as soon as we walked into mother's house (we came to see my aunt), my son held his nose and moaned, "doo doo, arghhh, doo doo'. He turned and walked back outside to the back lawn, almost vomiting.
My grandmother said 'eating a chitlin' is the best thing in the world', but, she could never lure us into eating one much less, a chicken foot. I think she said that teasing us because grandmother knew that we were crazy for her pecan pies, dumplings, and fresh vegetables not to mention all the other wonderful food she prepared.