Tripe: Preparing, Cooking

[divina]

while working with Dario Cecchini in Panzano, a friend of ours did a book with all tripe recipes, so we did the book presentation at the butcher shop... and did several recipes, my favorite was a batter fried tripe!

Edited June 17, 2004 by divina (log)

[foodie52]

I will go to the market today here in Florence and get you foto's.

You live in Florence?? Oh my goodness, I am so jealous...it's my favorite city.

[Adam Balic]

while working with Dario Cecchini in Panzano, a friend of ours did a book with all trip recipes, so we did the book presentation at the butcher shop... and did several recipes, my favorite was a batter fried tripe!

Dario Cecchini. How lucky. I was a book launch where he provided the meat, excellent porcetta (with red pepper jelly) and jellied pig head thing (like brawn, can't remember the Tuscan word though).

[divina]

The red pepper jelly is my recipe!!!

the Soprasatta he makes, headcheese he makes is very nice! with the orange rind in it!

Are you here too??? what book presentation, maybe I was there too..

drinks???

[Adam Balic]

The red pepper jelly is my recipe!!!

the Soprasatta he makes, headcheese he makes is very nice! with the orange rind in it!

Are you here too??? what book presentation, maybe I was there too..

drinks???

divina - sadly I don't live in Florence, but I have relatives that live in Prato/Gaioli, so I vist several times a year. I was there last week infact. So maybe a drink in the future?

The book presentation was in Prato, it was 12-18 (?) months ago and it was for a book of Chianti wines. Lots of wine and food on the terrace of the commune palazzo, including the porcetta with your (!) red pepper jelly*, raw beef with olive oil and the Soprasatta, which was excellent and did contain orange rind (and maybe pear?). Also many excellent dolce from the shops in Prato, including Antonio Mattei. I like Prato, it has some great food places and who would think that it was such a nice town at the centre considering how ugly it is to approach from Florence.

* Enjoyed this so much I have been making it at home to the best of mine abiltiy.

[albie]

Hi Lucy/bleudauvergne,

I generally slice up the tripe after the first simmering, although there have been times when I purchased the tripe pre-cut into strips; it seems to work well;

I usually use Turkish bay leaves since they're the most readily available to me; and the canellini beans are medium-small white beans (I've also used the larger cranberry beans-- the type the Italians call ``borlotti" ). best, albie

[albie]

...... and for divina: I recall in Saveur magazine they once profiled a character, ``Mario, il trippaio della Porta Romana." Know him?

[divina]

Prato!!!

LUCA MANORRI chocolate master!!!!! my new idol!

I am not fond of mattei's biscotti, I love theri Brutti ma Buoni though!

[Adam Balic]

I have 1 kg of the very same Brutti ma Buoni with me right now!

[Busboy]

So, I've decided to cook some tripe this weekend. After skimming through the usual suspects -- from Larousse Gastronomique to some tripe fetish site in (why does this seem so appropriate?) Australia, I have a couple of questions, if anybody can clue me in. I have dozens of recipe choices, btw, but feel free to suggest anything you find particularly compelling.

1) According to my sources, most tripe is sold pre-cooked and bleached, so it looks pretty. Is this bad? How bad? The stuff I want to buy looks gorgeous. The stuff at the neighborhood bodega looks nasty (and previously frozen). Do I suffer from buying the good-looking stuff? Does tripe suffer from freezing? How long until it goes bad? How can you tell (since it smells bad anyway?).

2) How can I tell if tripe is already cooked? Bite it?

3) If it's not cooked, some recipes call for boiling and scraping. Quick boil and decent scrape? Long boil and Oldovai Gorge-level detail in scraping? Can you tell the stuff you need to scrape from the stuff you eat easily?

4) Many recipes basically seem to be ways of finishing cooked tripe. If the stuff from the butcher is cooked, is it cooked enough? If I have the raw stuff (see question 2) is getting cooked stuff just a question of the long, slow simmer in stock and herbs that some recipes call for?

Thanks.

PS -- Bourdain, if you're reading this, I'm going for the certificate of achievement offered in your book, in January. If I cand find enough adventerous friends. Get your pen out.

[Adam Balic]

So, I've decided to cook some tripe this weekend.  After skimming through the usual suspects -- from Larousse Gastronomique to some tripe fetish site in (why does this seem so appropriate?) Australia, I have a couple of questions, if anybody can clue me in.  I have dozens of recipe choices, btw, but feel free to suggest anything you find particularly compelling.

1) According to my sources, most tripe is sold pre-cooked and bleached, so it looks pretty. Is this bad?  How bad?  The stuff I want to buy looks gorgeous.  The stuff at the neighborhood bodega looks nasty (and previously frozen).  Do I suffer from buying the good-looking stuff?  Does tripe suffer from freezing?  How long until it goes bad?  How can you tell (since it smells bad anyway?).

2) How can I tell if tripe is already cooked?  Bite it?

3) If it's not cooked, some recipes call for boiling and scraping.  Quick boil and decent scrape? Long boil and Oldovai Gorge-level detail in scraping?  Can you tell the stuff you need to scrape from the stuff you eat easily?

4) Many recipes basically seem to be ways of finishing cooked tripe.  If the stuff from the butcher is cooked, is it cooked enough?  If I have the raw stuff (see question 2) is getting cooked stuff just a question of the long, slow simmer in stock and herbs that some recipes call for?

Thanks.

PS -- Bourdain, if you're reading this, I'm going for the certificate of achievement offered in your book, in January.  If I cand find enough adventerous friends.  Get your pen out.

←

Uncooked tripe will be brownish in colour and will need extensive washing and scrubbing to remove the epithelial (surface cell) layer and the bits and pieces for the gut contents. It is a lot of work.

After this stage you can get the tripe in various stages of processing. Even processed and bleached tripe has a distinctive flavour, but to be honest I enjoy eating tripe because of the textural aspect. There are several sorts of tripe sold. that come from different stomachs. Most common in Anglo- places is honeycomb tripe, the next most common is blanket trip.

In Chianti cold cooked blanket tripe is eaten with very good olive oil and salt. I like this and if you can eat this then you like tripe.

The famous French dish for tripe is from Caen, but you can pick your favourite braise/stew from pretty much any culture and substitute tripe.

Enjoy.

[Daniel]

How did the tripe turn out.

[Busboy]

No one liked the tripe but me. It was clearly bleached, so I simmered it for about an hour -- at Mario's suggestion -- in water spiked with vinegar and vanilla. Eventually, I browned onions, carrots, garlic and celery and threw the tripe on top, with wine and tomato sauce. The texture was perfect; the taste: pretty good.

One thing I learned, though: a little tripe goes a long way. I don't think anyone -- even me -- should have to go through more than a few spoonfulls. The Mario recipe said that a pound served four, we had a little more than that for two and it was a bit overwhelming.

[Daniel]

The sandwich is a good way to eat the tripe.. Its not just you and the tripe.. The bread provides a crunchy vehicle.. Also giving another surface to add flavors.. Thats why I think that pesto,hot sauce sandwich works with the tripe...

Another way I had tripe that I really really enjoyed it was in a gratin.. It was out of The Whole Beast Cookbook, where there was a thick flour milk reux that really held to the tripe.. Topped with crunchy buttery broiled panko.. Stewed tripe might be a little too one d and soggy.. Certainly good in a soup adding flavor and texture.. I added beans and even crunchy bread to the soup to give it some support..

Edited December 4, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[OnigiriFB]

Oh my! I love this place! Other tripe lovers.....

I like tripe cooked the chinese way that you would have in a dim sum restaurant. I believe it's braised/simmered (?) in a five spice and soy sauce broth. One trick a chinese foodie friend told me is to scrub tripe a few times really well with baking soda. Helps get rid of that funky smell. I'd post a recipes I have no idea where I put that one. I may have to go dig it up and make a trip to my asian market.

It's also wonder blanched in pho.

Did you use the honeycomb kind or the other? I like the honecomb kind the best.

[Busboy]

It was honeycomb, but I'd like to try one of the other varieties.

More than anything, last night was an experiment, so I'm hoping to cook it again, better. Last time I had Asian tripe it was a little nasty -- a poorly prepared dim sum dish -- but simmering in 5 spice powder sounds like a great idea.

Spooning it over bread -- and gratineeing -- sounds great, too. A good texture combination. I have to confess, as much as I like the stuff, it can get overwhelming pretty quick. I think a little bit will go a long way.

Tripe is fun stuff and cheap to play with, so I'm looking forward to preparing it again.

BTW, how many cultures think that trip soup is a hangover cure? I know that the Salvadorans in my neighborhood swear by it, and the Greeks do, as well (just cut to the last post or two) .

[JeAnneS]

BTW, how many cultures think that trip soup is a hangover cure? I know that the Salvadorans in my neighborhood swear by it, and the Greeks do, as well just cut to the last post or two .

←

I dont know about hangover cure, but my mom (i'm portuguese) makes a killer tripe stew..it's got all sorts of beans and fat sausages as well as the tripe and I believe the broth is a tomato/red wine base. Yumm yumm.

[mizducky]

BTW, how many cultures think that trip soup is a hangover cure? I know that the Salvadorans in my neighborhood swear by it, and the Greeks do, as well just cut to the last post or two .

←

I dont know about hangover cure, but my mom (i'm portuguese) makes a killer tripe stew..it's got all sorts of beans and fat sausages as well as the tripe and I believe the broth is a tomato/red wine base. Yumm yumm.

←

My understanding is that the Mexican tripe-and-hominy stew menudo is also considered a hangover cure--especially when eaten in the classic 3am-after-a-night-of-carousing scenario. I've never made menudo from scratch, but it's darn good stuff when made well. A number of the more authentic mom'n'pop taquerias around here offer menudo as a weekly/weekend special.

P.S. I salute you on your tripe experiments in general. That's a series of experiments I mean to try one of these days too, so thanks for asking all the questions I would have asked.

[Jacqui Ingledew]

In Jamaica we scald the tripe and scrape the excess fatty substance out of the intestines (I believe?) before cooking with broad beans,onions thyme, garlic and escallions. I personally like to put a little curry in for the flavour and a nice hot scotch bonnet pepper.One of my favourite food with boiled green bananas and a plate of fluffy white rice...good comfort food

[Jacqui Ingledew]

In Jamaica we scald the tripe and scrape the excess fatty substance out of the intestines (I believe?) before cooking with broad beans,onions thyme, garlic and escallions. I personally like to put a little curry in for the flavour and a nice hot scotch bonnet pepper.One of  my favourite food with boiled green bananas and a plate of fluffy white rice...good comfort food

←

One of my favourite "foods" I mean

[Daniel]

In Jamaica we scald the tripe and scrape the excess fatty substance out of the intestines (I believe?) before cooking with broad beans,onions thyme, garlic and escallions. I personally like to put a little curry in for the flavour and a nice hot scotch bonnet pepper.One of  my favourite food with boiled green bananas and a plate of fluffy white rice...good comfort food

←

Hey Jacqui,

Welcome! That sounds really great and those flavor combinations arent in my brain.. Does this dish have a name or a place I can see a similar recipe..

[mizducky]

In Jamaica we scald the tripe and scrape the excess fatty substance out of the intestines (I believe?) before cooking with broad beans,onions thyme, garlic and escallions. I personally like to put a little curry in for the flavour and a nice hot scotch bonnet pepper.One of  my favourite food with boiled green bananas and a plate of fluffy white rice...good comfort food

←

Cool!

Welcome, Jacqui! I bet you're going to get *lots* of questions all about Jamaican cuisine. I know I for one would love to learn lots more about it. For instance, I know that curry spices are popular in Jamaican dishes, but I don't know much more than that, and would love to know more.

[hzrt8w]

I thought tripe is tripe, and the honeycomb like piece is cow stomach. Am I off? Are they both called tripe?

Like OnigiriFB said, both tripe and stomach are served in Chinese dim sum. The honeycomb stomach is typically braised with five spice, soy sauce and some nam yu (fermented red bean curds). Tripe, on the other hand, are typically steamed with black beans, chili, ginger and green onions.

In Hong Kong, we eat many other cow organs or body parts too: such as lung, intestines, liver, tendon, bone marrow, tongue, etc..

I don't know about pre-cooking and bleaching but it seems to make sense. As for a test, probably feel it with your knife. If you can cut it easily, it's probably pre-cooked. If it is tough, then probably it's raw.

I typically braise honeycomb stomach, Chinese style, for over 2 hours. For pre-cooked stripe: cut it into very thin strips and steam with fermented black beans, chili, ginger and green onions for 30 minutes. Chinese like to make the curry honeycomb stomach too.

Edited December 6, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[Busboy]

I thought tripe is tripe, and the honeycomb like piece is cow stomach.  Am I off?  Are they both called tripe?

Like OnigiriFB said, both tripe and stomach are served in Chinese dim sum.  The honeycomb stomach is typically braised with five spice, soy sauce and some nam yu (fermented red bean curds).  Tripe, on the other hand, are typically steamed with black beans, chili, ginger and green onions.

In Hong Kong, we eat many other cow organs or body parts too: such as lung, intestines, liver, tendon, bone marrow, tongue, etc..

I don't know about pre-cooking and bleaching but it seems to make sense.  As for a test, probably feel it with your knife.  If you can cut it easily, it's probably pre-cooked.  If it is tough, the probably it's raw.

I typically braise honeycomb stomach, Chinese style, for over 2 hours.  For pre-cooked stripe: cut it into very thin strips and steam with fermented black beans, chili, ginger and green onions for 30 minutes.  Chinese like to make the curry honeycomb stomach too.

←

Honeycomb is tripe which is cows stomach. There are other types of tripe, as well, they differ based on which of the cow's four stomachs they come from.

[ChefCrash]

I haven't had this dish in over thirty years. It's traditionally made with Lamb tripe and is not readily available here in the States. This week however, we found some frozen.

My grand mother used to stuff the tripe with a rice mixture (Hashweh), and boil them with Lamb's feet. We couldn't find any of those so we used pigs' feet.

Filling:

2 c rice

1 c chic peas soaked overnight

1 lb minced lamb shoulder meat

2 small onions roughly chopped

1 stick butter

1 tsp Lebanese 7 spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 T salt

For the boil:

4 pigs' feet

reserved bones from Lamb shoulder

one onion cut in half

5 cloves

10 whole pepper corns

2 bay leaves

3 sticks of cinnamon

salt

water to cover.

The tripe was very clean but soaking it in some vinegar and water for a few minutes, got rid of all odors of Zankha.

This tripe resembled two or three braziers with D sized cups, connected together. It was easy to divide the individual "cups" and sew each to form pouches. They're sewn inside out leaving an opening for the stuffing.

The stuffing before mixing. Fill the pouches 2/3 full to allow for expansion and sew them shut. Poke all the pouches with a fork to allow broth to penetrate the inside.

Line the bottom of a 20Qt pot with the bones and feet. Top with the pouches and cover with water. Bring to a boil, skim off the scum then add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and simmer for ~ 3 hours or until the pouches are fork tender.

Everything turned out delicious. Just the way I remember it.

The broth was served on the side as well as garlic/lemon/oil sauce to dip the meats in.

Next time I'd use black string to sew the pouches. Much easier to find and pull out before eating.