What's all the Tripe About?

Italian dish becoming more common

For those of you who don't know, tripe or trippa as it is known in Italian, is the lining of a cow's stomach. Like many North Americans, the idea of indulging in cow's stomach might not be a particularly appealing one, but one taste and you might be surprised that you like it.
According to Homer, the dish was prepared in honour of Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War. The meat is also reputed to have started the verbal square off between William the Conqueror and Philip I, King of France. When Philip made a joke about the chewy meat, William rebuked the insult by swearing to cause bodily harm to anyone who would ever dare say another bad thing about his beloved dish.
Decades ago, tripe was cheap enough so that working-class Italians could afford to buy it, unlike other more prized and costly meats. Hence the stigma of trippa being considered a poor man's food This also explains why to this day, cooking trippa is often relegated to the downstairs kitchen in many North-American-Italian homes.
And so for a long time, the meat got the raw end of the culinary deal while foods whose origins are ambivalent and squeamish at best (like hot dogs and hamburgers) have always been popular.
But in the past several years, North Americans have realized that tripe was worth a taste test. The meat is actually quite savoury and appetizing.
You can buy tripe that has already been cleaned and washed, but some still prefer to perform the rather painstaking activity at home. In this case, tripe preparation is a long process involving scrubbing, soaking, washing and rewashing.
For a delicious dish just in time for a fall dinner, cut the meat into wide strips and place in a large pot with water, chopped onion and celery, carrot and some parsley. After boiling, simmer and cook for four to five hours, continually skimming the scum that rises to the surface.
Trippa Legata Colle Uova sees tripe stewed in a lemon-egg sauce. Then there are the ubiquitous regional favourites. In the Roman version, the tripe is cooked with tomatoes and mint, while Sicily's offering includes stewing the meat and then baking it with cheese, eggplant and meat sauce.
From Milan comes Busecca. This is a rich bean and tripe soup that will satisfy any hunger pangs. In Trippa alla Savoiarda, the meat is stewed with tomatoes and several spices including nutmeg, cloves, mace and cinnamon.
Tripe, Asti Style, is a common northern Italian take on the spicier versions often served in the southern Italian repertoire. In this dish, tripe is mixed with dry Marsala and minced prosciutto.
In the space of the past decade, the once lowly trippa has finally moved uptown. It now commonly appears on the menus of trendy Italian restaurants around town.
Finally accepted and appreciated, trippa has found its proper place at the North American dinner table.

Publication Date: 2005-10-23
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=5656