Give tripe a chance with Lidia Bastianch's recipe (2024)

Tripe? Ah, couldn't stomach the thought, I'd tell friends, who would obligingly laugh at my silly joke.

But tripe — an offal food that represents the lining of a farm animal's stomach — is famous in hundreds of cuisines, and has become mainstream in many restaurants across the land.

The first time I tried tripe I was a teenager eating at a friend's home and I had no idea what I was tucking into — turns out my friend's mother had blended the tripe into a plate of creamy risotto. The dish was tasty, but I couldn't quite place the bits of slightly chewy meat which reminded me of tender bits of squid.

What was this? I asked. "It's tripe!" shouted my friend's mom rather triumphantly — to which I gagged, forcefully swallowing the last mouthful before shoving the plate away.

Baby. The dish was quite delicious and I wouldn't have known a thing had she not screamed the word so loud. After all, I had grown up on snails, calves brains and rabbit — tripe was just part of the scenery.

Historically, it was the go-to dish during the Victorian era, popular in the working class districts for being cheap and delicious; today many a butcher is doing their best to bring back the tripe. According to the Manchester Evening News (Manchestereveningnews.co.uk), butcher Lyndon Boot of Hyde Market's Let's Talk Tripe stall is even offering free samples of a savoury tripe smoothy — "it has great medicinal qualities and can increase your libido four fold," he says. Interest is certainly there — many a chef has recreated the traditional tripe dish into all sorts of exotic fare.

And tripe is such a delicacy and quite easy to cook. Technically, tripe is derived from the lining of the stomachs of various farm animals — beef being one of the most popular, followed by pig and sheep tripe. According to Barron's New Food Lover's Companion, the tripe found in most markets today is the lining of beef stomach — there are several stomach chambers and different kinds of tripe, but the best tripe comes from the second stomach chamber called honeycomb tripe "because the inner side has a pattern similar to a honeycomb." You can't miss it —it's blindingly white and it's considered the most tender and gently flavoured.

Tripe should be soft and yet resilient, not mushy, notes famed celebrity chef Lidia Bastianch on Lidiasitaly.com.

Tripe? A foodie worth his or her salt should definitely put this dish high up on the menu list!

Lidia Bastianch's Tripe

My sister, Anna, made this recipe from Lydia Bastianch's Lidiasitaly.com for the first time and the results were spectacular.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. (1kg) honeycomb beef or veal tripe
• 8 bay leaves
• 3 Tbsp. (45ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup/250ml)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup/250ml)
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped, with leaves (about 1 cup/250ml)
• Salt
• 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
• 1 tsp. (5ml) crushed red pepper
• 3 cups (750ml) plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and crushed
• 2 cups (500ml) hot water, or as needed
• 1/2 cup (125ml) Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

Directions:

Trim any pieces of solid fat from tripe and wash tripe thoroughly under cold running water. Put it in a large pot and pour in enough cold water to cover by four to six fingers. Toss in 4 bay leaves and bring to a boil over high heat. Adjust heat to a gentle boil and cook just until tender when poked with a fork. Don't overcook it to point where it falls apart when poked. Pick out bay leaves, drain tripe and cool to room temperature.

When tripe is cool, cut it into large pieces, removing all remaining pieces of fat that you uncover as you cut. (Most important part in preparation of tripe is removal of all fat.) Scrape both sides of tripe with back of a chef's knife to remove as many flecks of fat as you can. Cut tripe into strips about 1/2-inch wide and 2 inches long. Heat olive oil in a wide casserole over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 4 minutes. Stir in carrots and celery, season them lightly with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add remaining 4 bay leaves and tripe and cook, stirring occasionally, until all juices from tripe have evaporated and tripe has begun to caramelize and stick to bottom of pot, about 5 minutes. Pour in wine and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until wine is completely evaporated, about 6 minutes. Season lightly with salt, add crushed red pepper and pour in tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower heat so sauce is simmering. Simmer until tripe is tender, but still resilient, about 1 hour. Add small amounts of hot water from time to time as necessary while tripe simmers to keep tripe covered with sauce. Remove bay leaves and taste, seasoning with salt and crushed red pepper as necessary. Serve tripe in warm bowls, topping each helping with some grated Parmigiano.

Serves 6.

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