Tripe: Riccardo Trattoria

Tripe: Riccardo Trattoria

Tripe has a bad name. When something is nonsense or eminently not worth your time, you may discard it with the phrase, “What a bunch of tripe!” Elsewhere on this board, “haggis” is held up to slight ridicule as an item not to be messed with, though it is perhaps the most infamous stomach dish of them all. I had tripe for the first time in menudo at La Tapatio in the mid-70’s – it was pretty awful; big clumps of spongy stomach tissue, yuck (and it did not help a hangover).

Eating tummy is, of course, universal, and enjoyed by Vietnamese in pho, the French in andouille, the Peruvians in cau-cau. We Italians enjoy an animal’s quinto quarto (fifth quarter) as much as the next ethnic group, and I had an excellent platter of veal tripe at Riccardo Trattoria last Friday (as it was Derby weekend, I had a trifecta of three veal dishes, with tripe as an appetizer). There was a subtle funk in the dish, but with a creamy tomato sauce and generous helpings of carrot and onion, I think you might have to think twice before you’d guess it was guts. Ladled over Riccardo’s rosemary focaccia, it was quite tasty, and it was a dish with…personality. As I grow older and feebler, my taste buds shrivel (let that be a lesson to ye who spike thy tongues – you don’t get more of these flavor sensors, so destroy them sparingly!). To get some kind of action going in my mouth, I find that more powerfully flavored dishes are what’s required. The veal tripe did the trick: strong yet subtle, cautiously assertive, not in-your-face but undeniably organ meat, the best tripe dish I’ve ever had.

Riccardo Trattoria
2119 N. Clark
773.549.0038

Hammond

“nun c'è trippa pe' gatti”

david you are most definetly a chef at heart! ive been cooking tripe for years and could never find the right words to describe its under tones! i promptly pulled off the shelf my first copy of larousse gastronomique circa 1977, looked up tripe and wrote in its description " subtle funk". yes you are right, depending on how its cooked , the aroma can mess with your sences alittle bit. when my first cookbook came out i included two recipes for tripe, one as flaki soup and the other tripes warsaw style. the interesting thing i found out was that way back when in eastern europe, tripe was cured just like salt cod and had to be soaked for several days to bring it back to life as they say. the poles would have lavish banquets featuring tripe soup and would pass around bowls of a spice blend containing cloves, ginger and nutmeg to stir into the soup! if you ever cook tripe be sure to blanch it a good 3 times in hot water befor proceding with the recipe.

tonyd,

Thinking a little more about the veal tripe, another pertinent characteristic was its extraordinary silkiness. The tripe I'd had before (from a full grown cow/steer, I'm sure -- they were some hefty chunks), had nothing like the smoothness of this baby cow stomach meat.

Hammond

other then the tripe..... how was the rest of your experience at Riccardo Trattoria? I've been eyeing this place for some time now.

RT

"Manco a li cani!" -- Francesco Totti

rmtraut wrote:other then the tripe..... how was the rest of your experience at Riccardo Trattoria? I've been eyeing this place for some time now.

RT

I went to RT with my gambling buddy, patoriq, who ordered risotto with asparagus and then, in an inspired moment, asked that the chef throw in some scallops. This excellent off-menu combo was quite memorable; chef we got some little bays and a few big divers, all meshing excellently with the rice and veg.

Panna cotta with fruit coulis was also quite good.

Honestly, I'm a little regretful that I focused solely on eating guts as there's a lot of promising stuff on the menu -- there's also a slight hipster vibe in the place, which made me initially suspicious, but which I now feel was unjustified.

Hammond