Tripe is an edible offal (entrails and internal organs). Some grazing animals like cows, buffalo and sheep have multiple stomach chambers to properly digest their food. These stomach linings are called tripe. Most tripe sold in United States grocery stores is from cows. 

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

TO PREPARE TRIPE
Empty the contents of the stomach of a fat beef. Scrape and wash the tripe thoroughly. Put it in cold water and salt and soak for ten days. Don’t put much salt in; just keep it covered with water and change it every other day. When perfectly white, boil for nine hours in a very clean vessel of salt water. It will then be ready to fry, stew, or boil. If it is to be kept any length of time, it should be put in brine or vinegar.

BOILED TRIPE
Cut the tripe up in pieces the size of two inches square. Put these into a saucepan containing milk, or milk and water, enough to swim the tripe. Add some peeled onions, pepper, and salt, and a sprig of thyme, and boil gently for at least an hour. When the tripe is done, eat it with mustard and some well-boiled potatoes.

BAKED TRIPE
Cut the tripe up in pieces and put it into an earthen pot with some ale, cider, or water; enough to cover it in.  Add sliced onions, pepper, and salt, and a good pinch of allspice. Put the lid on the pot and set the tripe in the oven to bake for two hours.

TO STEW TRIPE
Cut the quantity of tripe you intend stewing into small pieces, about two inches square. Pat it into a sauce pan with equal quantities of milk and water, enough to cover well. Boil half an hour, then stir in one teacup* of cream. Mix one teaspoon flour and one tablespoon butter together and add to it. After it has boiled five minutes longer, chop three hard-boiled eggs and stir them in. Salt and pepper to taste. A little vinegar and mixed mustard is an improvement. This is a nice breakfast dish.

*teacup – same as a jill or gill; four ounces in the U.S. and five ounces in the U.K.

SPANISH TRIPE
Take one pound fresh boiled tripe, Cut into small pieces and put in a greased casserole dish. Add one cup peeled and chopped tomatoes, one-half cup chopped white cabbage, one-half onion chopped, one-half green pepper chopped, three-fourth teaspoon salt and a few grains of cayenne. Cut two slices bacon into bits, put on top, and bake in a moderate oven* one hour.

*moderate oven – about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit.

ROASTED TRIPE
Cut some tripe in pieces three inches long by six wide. Cover each one with highly seasoned sausage-meat, roll up, and tie with a string. Dredge them well with flour, lay the rolls in a dripping pan, and set them in the oven to bake, basting them with the liquor which flows from them. When they are nicely browned, dish them up with a slice of lemon on each one. Some melted butter may be put over them if desired.

TRIPE, ONIONS, AND POTATOES
Cut two pounds of tripe in pieces two inches square. Peel and slice six large onions and ten potatoes. Slice one-fourth pound of salt pork or bacon. Put the bacon in the bottom of a pot, with the tripe and vegetables in layers on it, seasoning with a tablespoon of salt, a saltspoon* of pepper, and the same of powdered herbs. Mix a pound of flour gradually with a quart and a half of cold water, and pour it over the tripe and vegetables. Boil it gently for two hours and serve hot with bread.

*saltspoon – a miniature spoon used with an open salt cellar for individual use before table salt was free-flowing. One saltspoon equals one-fourth teaspoon.

PICKLED TRIPE
Cut one pound of cooked honeycomb* tripe in pieces one inch by three inches. Place in a casserole dish and add:

One cup of vinegar,
One-half cup of water,
One onion, cut fine,
One teaspoon of salt,
One-half teaspoon of white pepper,
One bay leaf,
Eight cloves,
Ten allspices,
One small red pepper pod.

Cover and bake in a hot oven* for thirty minutes and then cool.

*honeycomb – this stems from the second stomach chamber and resembles a honeycomb.
*quick or hot oven – about 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit.

TRIPE FRIED IN BATTER
Cut one pound tripe in pieces the size of a large oyster and cover with boiling water. Add seasonings, simmer fifteen minutes, and drain. Dry each piece of tripe and dip in batter. Fry until golden brown in hot fat and then serve with Hollandaise sauce.

THE BATTER
Break one egg in a cup and fill with milk. Place in a bowl and add:

One and one-fourth cups of flour,
One teaspoon of salt,
One-half teaspoon of pepper.

Beat well to free from lumps.

TRIPE LYONNAISE
Cut up half a pound of cold boiled tripe into neat squares. Put two ounces of butter and a tablespoon of chopped onion in a frying pan and fry to a delicate brown. Add to the tripe a teaspoon of chopped parsley, a little strong vinegar, salt and cayenne. Stir the pan to prevent burning. Cover the bottom of a platter with tomato sauce, add the contents of the pan and serve.

TRIPE AND OYSTERS
Having boiled the tripe in milk and water for four or five hours till it is quite tender, cut it up into small pieces. Put it into a stewpan with milk enough to cover it, and add a few blades of mace. Let it stew about five minutes, and then put in the oysters, adding a large piece of butter rolled in flour; add salt and cayenne pepper to your taste. Let it stew five minutes longer and skim off whatever fat may float on the surface. Send it to the table in a tureen.

PEPPER POT
Take four pounds of tripe and four ox feet. Put them into a large pot with as much water as will cover them. Add some whole pepper and a little salt.

Hang the pot over the fire early in the morning. Boil slowly, keeping the pot closely covered. When the tripe is quite tender and the ox feet boiled to pieces, take them out, skim the liquid and strain it. Remove the bones from the feet, cut the tripe into small pieces, put back into the pot, and pour the soup or liquor over it.

Have ready some sweet herbs chopped fine, some sliced onions, and some sliced potatoes. Make some small dumplings with flour and batter. Season the vegetables well with pepper and salt and put them into the pot.

Have ready a kettle of boiling water and pour on as much as will keep the ingredients covered while boiling, but take care not to weaken the taste by putting in too much water.

Add a large piece of butter rolled in flour, and lastly, put in the dumplings. Let it boil till all the things are thoroughly done, and then serve it up in a tureen.

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Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal

Odd Bits features over 100 recipes devoted to the “rest of the animal,” those under-appreciated but incredibly flavorful and versatile alternative cuts of meat.

This book will remove the mystery of cooking with offal, so food lovers can approach them as confidently as they would a steak. From the familiar (pork belly), to the novel (cockscomb), to the downright challenging (lamb testicles), Jennifer McLagan provides expert advice and delicious recipes to make these odd bits part of every enthusiastic cook’s repertoire.

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Have You Ever Eaten Tripe? Please Leave a Comment Below.

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