Chicken Feet, Pickled Pigs Feet and Tongue

That’s what I grew up eating.  Like it was normal.  Animal organs.. heart, liver, kidney, neck, tongue, feet, pig’s tongue and shaved feet.  REALLY!!???????  Omg.  I cannot!  I can hardly type this it is so disgusting.  And I liked it.  

I will never forget the day.  I was dating the coolest guy from Wednesday night ‘roller skating’.  He was so hot.  He was a true city boy.  I was a true country girl.  He drove out to the country to see me and we had a family dinner.  And my mom served chicken feet and bubbut.  Bubbut was a dish I also grew up with.. a form of dumplings.  Super yummy.. kind of a dough cooked in salty oil and water.  I could have died.  Pass the chicken feet please.  This guy is going to think I am a total freak!  He was polite, sort of.. he was shocked .. we got through it.  Needless to say I don’t think he ever came out to see me again.  

Over the years I have learned to appreciate that experience.  What I realized is the culture I grew up in is rich and full of stories.  Eating pickled pig’s tongue at 11pm out of our second fridge and feeling the stubble of the shaved hair on that pig foot is a memory I can hardly stomach yet I am grateful because I know I come from good stock.  Parents who grew up in complete poverty and used every morsel so nothing would go to waste.  And even though they have been blessed and no longer need to live frugally if they choose not to, my mom still makes chicken feet for herself on a regular basis while the rest of us eat the beef tenderloin my dad cooks so well.  He only has 5 different BBQ’s to choose from.  In our family we ate Asado (Spanish) almost every night of the week.  Asado is meat, usually beef cooked over a fire.  Now my mom usually makes chicken feet when they have no guests coming over.  It is a reminder of where I came from.  Today I embrace my heritage, chicken feet and all.