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Tripe

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

A photo of tripe, a type of food, displayed in an Italian market.

Tripe is a type of food made from the digestive system of certain animals, mainly cows and sheep. It is considered a special part of meat called offal, which means it comes from organs or parts of the animal that are not the main meat we usually eat. Many cultures around the world enjoy tripe as a tasty and nutritious meal. It is especially popular in places where people like to try different kinds of foods from animals. The word "tripe" can sometimes mean other things, so if you see it used in another way, it might not be talking about this food.

Tripe (trippa) in an Italian market

Types

Beef

Beef tripe comes from the stomach chambers of a cow. The first chamber, called the rumen, is known as blanket, flat, or smooth tripe. The second chamber, the reticulum, is called honeycomb or pocket tripe. The third chamber, the omasum, is also known as book, bible, or leaf tripe. The fourth chamber, the abomasum, is called reed tripe and is seen less often because it contains glandular tissue.

Other animals

While tripe usually means cow stomach, it can come from any ruminant such as sheep, deer, antelope, goat, ox, and giraffes. In Spanish, dishes made from the small intestines of an animal are called tripas. Sometimes, tripe from pigs is called paunch, pig bag, or hog maw.

Washed tripe

Washed tripe, also called dressed tripe, is made by cleaning the stomachs and trimming off the fat. It is then boiled and bleached to give it a white color, which is what people usually see in markets and shops. This work is done by professional tripe dressers.

Dressed tripe used to be a popular, nutritious, and inexpensive food for people in Britain from Victorian times until the middle of the 20th century. Though it is still enjoyed in many parts of the world, fewer people in the UK eat it today. In many places in Europe, tripe remains a favorite dish. In France, tripes à la mode de Caen is a common supermarket item. In Spain, callos a la madrileña are often served as tapas. In Porto, Portugal, tripas à moda do Porto is a beloved tripe stew made with white butter beans, carrots, paprika, and chouriço.

Dishes

Gulai babat, tripe prepared in a type of curry
Patsás
Sekba, pig offal in soy sauce stew

Tripe is eaten in many parts of the world. Tripe soup is made in many varieties in Eastern European cuisine. Tripe dishes include:

  • Andouille—French poached, boiled, and smoked cold tripe sausage.
  • Andouillette—French grilling sausage, including beef tripe and pork.
  • Babat—Indonesian spicy beef tripe dish; can be fried with spices or served as soup as soto babat (tripe soto).
  • Bak kut teh—A Chinese herbal soup popularly served in Malaysia and Singapore with pork tripe, meat, and ribs.
  • Bao du—Chinese quick-boiled beef or lamb tripe.
  • Bhutan—Nepalese spicy stir fried dish of mixed tripe, intestines, and offal, often eaten as an appetizer or snack.
  • BotifarraCatalan sausage.
  • BumbarBosnian dish where the tripe is stuffed with other beef parts.
  • Busecca—A thick tripe soup made with tomato sauce, spices, pancetta and different types of beans; it's one of the most known dishes of Milanese cuisine.
  • Caldume—A Sicilian stew or soup.
  • Callos a la MadrileñaSpanish tripe dish cooked with chorizo and paprika.
  • Callos con garbanzos—Spanish tripe dish cooked with chickpea, chorizo, and paprika.
  • Calooley—tripe dish eaten in Somalia and Djibouti; it is a stew made with different sauces.
  • Cap i potaCatalan tripe dish.
  • Cau-cauPeruvian stew of cow tripe, potatoes, mint, and other spices and vegetables.
  • Chakna—Indian spicy stew of goat tripe and other animal parts.
  • Ciorbă de burtăRomanian special soup with cream and garlic.
  • Cow foot soup—Belizean dish of seasoned, tenderly cooked cow tripe and foot, plus aromatic and ground vegetables with macaroni in a rich glutinous soup.
  • CuajitoPuerto Rican dish made from pig stomach; eaten with boiled plantains.
  • Dobrada—Portuguese tripe dish usually made with white butterbeans, carrots, and chouriço; served with white rice.
  • Dršťkovka (dršťková polévka)—Czech goulash-like tripe soup.
  • Fasulia bil karshaLibyan kidney bean soup with tripe.
  • DržkováSlovak tripe soup (držková polievka).
  • Dulot or dulet[what language is this?]Eritrean and Ethiopian tripe and entrail stir-fry, containing finely chopped tripe, liver, and ground beef, lamb, or goat fried in clarified and spiced butter with garlic, parsley, and berbere.
  • Ebyenda or byenda—Word for tripe in some Bantu languages of Uganda; tripe may be stewed, but is especially popular when cooked with matooke as a breakfast dish.
  • Fileki or špek-filekiCroatian tripe soup.
  • Flaczki or flakiPolish soup, with marjoram.
  • Fuqi feipian or 夫妻肺片—Spicy and "numbing" (麻) Chinese cold dish made from various types of beef offal, nowadays mainly thinly sliced tendon, tripe, and sometimes tongue.
  • Gopchang jeongol—A spicy Korean stew or casserole made by boiling beef tripe, vegetables, and seasonings in beef broth.
  • Goto—Filipino gruel with tripe.
  • Guatitas—Ecuadorian and Chilean tripe stew, often served with peanut sauce in Ecuador.
  • Guiso de panzaBolivian tomato-based stewed tripe.
  • Gulai babat—Indonesian Minang tripe curry.
  • GuruZimbabwean name for tripe, normally eaten as relish with sadza.
  • HaggisScottish traditional dish made of a sheep's stomach stuffed with oatmeal and the minced heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep. The stomach is used only as a vessel for the stuffing and is not eaten.
  • İşkembe çorbasıTurkish tripe soup with garlic, lemon, and spices.
  • Kare-kareFilipino oxtail-peanut stew which may include tripe.
  • Kersha (Egyptian Arabic: كرشة)—Egyptian tripe stew with chickpea and tomato sauce.
  • Khash—In Armenia, this popular winter soup is made of boiled beef tendon and honeycomb tripe, and served with garlic and lavash bread.
  • Kirxa—Popular traditional Maltese dish stewed in curry.
  • KistaAssyrian dish cooked traditionally in a stew and stuffed with soft rice; part of a major dish known as pacha in Assyrian.
  • LampredottoFlorentine abomasum-tripe dish, often eaten in sandwiches with green sauce and hot sauce.
  • Laray—Curried tripe dish popular in Afghanistan and in the northern region of Pakistan; eaten with naan/roti.
  • Laray—A Pakistani (Pushto) dish from the Northern Area, consisting of fried cow tripe with traditional spices. Da laray pikaorae is made of small square pieces of tripe mixed with chickpea flour (baisin) with traditional spices and deep-fried.
  • Mala Mogodu—Popular South African tripe dish, often eaten at dinner time as a stew with hot pap.
  • MatumboKenyan tripe dish, often eaten as a stew with various accompaniments.
  • Menudo—Mexican tripe and hominy stew.
  • Mogodu—South African and Botswanan stewed tripe with fatty broth.
  • Methmaaz—Kashmiri Kashmiri dry cooked tripe dish, heavily spiced with “meth”(dried fenugreek leaves). Usually cooked and served on special occasions as part of the famous “wazwan”.
  • MondongoLatin American and Caribbean tripe, vegetable, and herb soup.
  • Mondonguito a la italiana—An Italian-influenced Peruvian stew.
  • MotsuJapanese tripe served either simmered or in nabemono, such as motsunabe.
  • Mumbar—Beef or sheep tripe stuffed with rice; typical dish in Adana in southern Turkey.
  • Mutura—Kenyan tripe sausage; stuffed with blood, organ and other meat, and then roasted.
  • Niubie (Chinese: 牛瘪)—A kind of Chinese huoguo, popular in Qiandongnan prefecture of Guizhou province, southwest China, and traditionally eaten by the Dong and Miao peoples; it includes the stomach and small intestine of cattle. Bile from the gall bladder and the half-digested contents of the stomach give the dish a unique, slightly bitter flavour. It can also be made with the offal of a goat, which is called yangbie (Chinese: 羊瘪).
  • 牛肚 / 金錢肚 (Mandarin: niudu/jinqiandu; Cantonese, ngautou/gumtsintou)—Chinese tripe with the inner lining resembling an ancient Chinese coin with square hole (hence the name 'coin stomach'); usually served steamed with spring onion and garlic sauce, or boiled in water served with sweet soya sauce with chilli and spring onions as a dipping sauce.
  • Obe ata pelu ShaakiNigerian stew made with large chunk of beef and goat tripe.
  • OjriPakistani traditional dish made of goat, cow, or sheep tripe. It is considered an offal delicacy and is often enjoyed by those who appreciate organ meats. Ojri is known for its deeply spiced flavor, labor-intensive preparation, cultural significance during Eid, and its status as both a homemade and street food favorite.
  • OsbenTunisian cow or sheep tripe filled with meat and vegetables, and generally cooked with couscous.
  • PacalHungarian spicy meal made of tripe, similar to pörkölt.
  • PachaIraqi cuisine; tripe and intestines stuffed with garlic, rice, and meat.
  • Pachownie/OjharieTrinidad and Tobago cuisine; Guyanese Cuisine; Suriname cuisine; goat tripe cooked with curry and other ingredients.
  • Packet and tripe—Irish meal with tripe boiled in water, then strained off and then simmered in a pot with milk, onions, salt, and pepper. It is served hot with cottage bread or bread rolls, and is popular in County Limerick.
  • PancitaPeruvian spicy barbecued fried food made with beef tripe marinated with peppers and other ingredients.
  • Pancitas—Mexican stew similar to menudo.
  • Pani câ meusa—A tripe sandwich popular in the Cuisine of Sicily.
  • PapaitanFilipino goat or beef tripe and offal soup flavored with bile.
  • Patsás (Greek: πατσάς)—Greek tripe stew seasoned with red wine vinegar and garlic (skordostoubi) or thickened with avgolemono; widely believed to be a hangover remedy.
  • Pepper soup with tripe—Nigerian hot peppered liquid soup with bite-sized tripe.
  • Philadelphia Pepper Pot soup—American (Pennsylvania) tripe soup with peppercorns.
  • PhởVietnamese noodle soup with many regional variations, some of which include tripe.
  • Pickled tripe—pickled white honeycomb tripe, once common in the Northeastern United States.
  • Pieds paquetsProvençal dish, consisting of stuffed sheep's offal and sheep's feet stewed together.
  • Potted meat
  • Ṣakí or shaki—Word for tripe in the Yoruba language of Nigeria; ṣakí is often included in various stews, along with other meat.
  • Sapu mhichā—leaf tripe bag stuffed with bone marrow then boiled and fried; from Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Satay babat—Marinated, skewered, and grilled tripe, eaten in the Malay world.
  • Saure Kuttelnsouth German dish made with beef tripe and vinegar or wine.
  • SekbaChinese Indonesian pork offals including tripes stewed in mild soy sauce-based soup.
  • Serobe—A Botswanan delicacy, mixed with intestines and, on some occasions, with beef.
  • Shkembe (shkembe chorba) (Шкембе чорба/Чкембе чорба in Bulgarian)—A kind of tripe soup prepared in Iran, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Turkey. Schkæm (Persian: شکم) is the Persian word for 'stomach'; sirabi (Persian: سیرابی) is the Iranian version of shkembe.
  • Skembici—A Serbian dish and one of the oldest known dishes (dating from the 13th century). It is tripe in vegetable stew with herbs, served with boiled potato.
  • Soto babat—Indonesian spicy tripe soup.
  • Supu ya Utumbo—A popular traditional Tanzanian soup dish consisting of tripe and broth, often eaten with chillies and lime.
  • Tablier de sapeur—A speciality of Lyon.
  • Tkalia—A Moroccan spiced dish, simmered in sauce, and often accompanied with lung meat. Generally eaten with bread, especially during Eid al-Adha.
  • Tripas à Moda do Porto—tripe with white beans in Portuguese cuisine; a dish typical of the city of Porto. It is called dobrada elsewhere in Portugal.
  • Tripes à la mode de Caen—In Normandy, a traditional stew made with tripe. It has a very codified recipe, preserved by the brotherhood of La tripière d'or which organises a competition every year to elect the world's best maker of tripes à la mode de Caen.
  • Tripe and beans—In Jamaica, a thick, spicy stew made with tripe and broad beans.
  • Tripe and drisheen—In Cork, Ireland.
  • Tripe and onions—In Northern England.
  • Tripe in Nigerian tomato sauce—Tripe cooked until tender, and finished in spicy tomato sauce.
  • Tripe soup—In Jordan, a stew made with tripe and tomato sauce.
  • Tripe taco—Mexican sheep or calf tripe dish with tortillas.
  • Tripice—A Croatian stew made from tripe boiled with potato, with bacon added for flavour.
  • TripouxOccitan sheep tripe dish traditional in Rouergue.
  • Trippa alla fiorentina—An Italian tripe dish fried with tomatoes and other vegetables.
  • Trippa alla livornese
  • Trippa alla pisana—A tripe dish from Pisa, Italy, containing onion, celery, carrot, garlic fried in oil, with tomatoes and pancetta or guanciale, and topped with Parmesan cheese.
  • Trippa alla Ragusana—A traditional Sicilian tripe stew from town of Ragusa flavoured with almonds, nuts and cinnamon.
  • Trippa alla romana—An Italian tripe dish made with white wine and tomatoes.
  • Trippa alla savoiarda—A tripe dish from Piedmont, Italy, stewed with vegetables, white wine, and sauce from roasted beef; served covered with grated Parmigiano Reggiano/Grana Padano cheese.
  • Trippe alla Veneta—A tripe dish from Veneto, Northeast Italy.
  • Trippa di Moncalieri—A tripe dish from Moncalieri city, Piedmont, Italy, consisting of tripe sausage served in thin slices with a few drops of olive oil, minced parsley, garlic, and a pinch of black pepper, or used mainly for trippa alla Savoiarda.
  • Tripe with potatoes—A tripe dish from Salento, Italy, consisting in tripe with tomatoes and potatoes
  • Tsitsarong bulaklak—Filipino crunchy fried tripe (literally 'flower' crackling).
  • Tuslama (Romanian)/Tuzlama (Turkish)—tripe stew specific to south-eastern Romania; a blend of Romanian and Turkish cuisines.
  • Ulusu—A tripe dish from the Matebeleland region of Zimbabwe usually eaten with Isitshwala
  • Vajri khudiEast Indian traditional variation of a vajri curry.
  • Vampi—Slovenian tripe stew.
  • Vette darmen—A traditional West Flemish dish, now on the verge of being obsolete; the tripe is seasoned and fried in a buttered pan.
  • Yakiniku and horumonyaki—Japanese chargrilled, bite-sized tripe.
  • Yem-adi[what language is this?]—A Ghananian dish consisting of spiced and steamed tripe eaten with most stews (kontombire)[what language is this?] and soups (light soup, peanut butter soup, palm kernel soup, ayoyo).[what language is this?]

Related dishes

In countries where Spanish or Portuguese is spoken, the word for tripe usually means small intestines instead of stomach lining. Some dishes made from small intestines include Tacos de tripa, which are Mesoamerican tacos filled with soft or crunchy fried small intestines.

Another food made from small intestines is called chitterlings, often just called chitlins. In Kerala, India, beef tripe is also a common meat. There, beef tripe mixed with tapioca (kolliyum bottiyum) is a traditional dinner for Christian weddings in some areas.

Marketing

The Tripe Marketing Board helps celebrate World Tripe Day every year on October 24. This special day marks the year 1662, when a man named Samuel Pepys enjoyed a delicious meal of tripe, which is a type of food made from the stomach of certain animals.

Images

A diagram showing the rumen, which is the first chamber of a cow's stomach, important for understanding animal digestion and food sources.
A diagram showing the omasum, the third chamber of a cow's stomach, important for digesting food.
A bowl of Soto Babat, a spicy Indonesian soup made with cattle rumen tripe, enjoyed as a traditional dish in Jakarta.
A traditional Italian dish made from tripe, showcasing a regional culinary specialty.
A delicious plate of Trippa alla Romana, a traditional Roman dish made from tripe and served with vegetables.

Related articles

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Tripe, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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