Tripe recipes tried?

David Hammond's post about a recent good tripe outing prompted this inquiry into the minds of tripe cooks.
But before that, I recall that David does mention in his post that haggis is held up to slight ridicule some places within the food arena. This is true, and a shame, because as last summer's trip to Scotland revealed to me, MacSween's haggis (and others, though this was the best of the bunch) is one of the best dishes I've ever had in my 26 years. (there is a poor picture of haggis elsewhere on this site, posted by me.)
Tripe, however, I just can't seem to get into. Living in New Mexico, the weekends bring out the menudo in every restaurant in town. I have tried repeatedly to get into it, but the taste is just, well, I can't get over how seemingly bad it is to me. Believe me, I've tried.
Having recently purchased the Les Halles cookbook, however, I see Bourdain's version of Tripes Les Halles. This dish is more of, as he puts it, a "steaming tub of guts" than just a tripe dish, but I was considering making it.
The point of this post--does anyone have any tripe dishes that may knock a disbeliever out of his funk? Or, has anyone specifically made the Les Halles tripe dish? (Bourdain purports in the book to responding to a picture of yourself and the completed dish with some friends, and, likely, alcohol, with a personal letter of commendation in kind, probably scrawled along a vomit-soaked napkin he found next to his head upon awaking on the floor of his bathroom.)
Tripe, anyone?
-parker

Can't stomach tripe, you say (ahem, cough, cough)? I grew up with it and never liked it until I had it in Rome and Florence, and then the scales fell from my eyes. Closer to home, I find the tripe in local Chinese restaurants to be pretty good. But, like you, I haven't found menudo very appealing, though I continue to order it once in a while and hold out hope.

How I make tripe that no one at my house will eat except me and the dog and in so doing follow the inspirational path of David Hammond:

Trippa alla Romana
2 lbs uncooked tripe
a yellow onion, diced
a couple carrots, diced
a couple ribs of celery with leaves, diced
1/4 C olive oil
fat from prosciutto or pancetta (optional)
1/2 C white wine (optional)
2-3 C of your favorite tomato sauce, with or without meat
good handful of mint, chopped
grated Pecorino Romano

Clean the tripe thoroughly under running cold water, removing any fat. In a 6-8 quart pot, cover the tripe with cold water and bring to a rolling boil. Dump it out, refill with cold water and reboil for 5 hours. When it's done, strain it, allow it to cool until you can handle it, and slice it into 1/2" strips.

When the tripe has an hour to go, start assembling the sauce: Add oil to a pot large enough to hold the sauce and tripe. Heat medium and saute vegetables until they start to color. Add pork fat if you like. Deglaze with wine if you like, and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated (the wine tends to amplify the "funk" of tripe, so perhaps omit this step until you have clarified your desire to "get down" with tripe). Add tomato sauce, cooked tripe, and simmer for 45 minutes or so. Serve with mint and grated pecorino.

To make the Florentine version, add a few cloves to the tripe boil (better yet, boil it in a meat stock), substitute "pomodori pelati" (pealed Italian tomatoes) for the tomato sauce, omit mint, add a generous couple tablespoons of butter to the final dish, and serve with Parmigiano Reggiano.

This sounds great--the true Roman (and Florentine) trattoria classic style, it would seem.
I'll get down with tripe and let you know.
Thanks!

I've been watching this thread, waiting for a suitable moment to enter. Now seems like the time.

I like tripe. Not always, not under all descriptions; but, generally, I like it. I've had tripe in menudo in a Salvadoran comida in Whitewater that was... well.... to close to nature, let us say, for me to enjoy. But generally, I like it.

Without tripe, phô is not phô, or so say I. I slice it quite thin--a good, cleaned, very white tripe from the grocery--and simmer for a long time in the broth.

Now for the pay-off. The best tripe I've ever had was in a teeny restaurant off Pl. des Vosges in Paris, tripe à la mode Caen, a red-saucey, soupy, rich dish. I tried to find a straightforward recipe to tell you about, but even Pellaprat's version calls for such things as calf's hoofs, eye of newt, etc. So I can't recommend anything in particular about how To Do It. All I can say is, it's very very tasty.

Clean it, cook it forever, and enjoy it.

Geo

PS. ever try Juanita's menudito in cans? It's pretty good: add some oregano and onions and lime.

From the UK in 1952

Man, I love, love, love the existence of the British Tripe Council and its slogan, "Tripe for Stamina"! Thanks for posting.

As with many base ingredients 'tripe' is the name for a range of types.
Most Supermercardos sell two types, a regular and a bleached product.
I mostly us the bleached type but when I use the regular, I find no discernible difference in the final dish.
These products have been cleaned quite well.
What does make a difference is cooking time, this type of tripe requires a minimum of 4 hours to make it tender in menudo and other dishes.
I also use a Pepin recipe that works quite well.
I have found that the tripe dim sum served at Phoenix is never cooked long enough.
Vietnamese use what is termed 'Bible' tripe, I presume for it's leaf type construction.
Bible tripe is much finer and does not require as long a cook time to be palatable.
I purchase mine in Chinatown frozen alongside the duck tongues.
A related product, Tripas served in Mexican restaurants, is the small intestine, quite earthy but I find it a good change from the normal taco offerings.-Dick

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/l ... story.html


"He says he'll be very busy that day hammering home the group's four essential messages: "Give Tripe a Chance"; "Tripe: It’s Not Just for Dogs"; "Love Life. Love Tripe. Share the Love"; and "Buy More Tripe.""

The only trick to tripe I've ever found is cleaning it well, boiling it, dumping, and then reboiling. My parents would do two changes of water (bring to boil twice at 15 minutes), but I find once at 15 minutes is fine. The Polish version is predominantly spiced with marjoram, and often a bit of allspice, mace or nutmeg, ginger, and black pepper. Also, I like to cook at least 2 hours, maybe into 4 hours. I want it tender, but not mushy. You just kind of have to judge along the way. Honeycomb tripe is the tripe we've usually used. It's tender and fairly mildly flavored. If you don't like it--especially in a heavily spiced concoction like menudo--you're probably just not going to like tripe. Me, I love the stuff in pretty much any form.

Now I have to try tripe. I just discovered a few years ago that, while I'm not truly fond of it, I kind of dig a good calves liver with onions and bacon about once or twice a year.

With that in mind, does anyone have a tried and true recipe for me to dip my toes in the water?
Failing that is there anyplace serving really good tripe in the Oak Park area?