“Don’t let the word tripe deter you – let it’s soothing charms win you over and enjoy it as do those who always have!” Fergus Henderson
Tripe comes from ruminants
Tripe comes from the lining of the stomach, particularly of ruminants. Ruminants are animals that eat a plant-based diet and use a four-chambered stomach system to extract nutrients. Domesticated ruminants include cow, sheep, goats, deer, and yaks but also include wild animals such as bison and buffalo, antelope, giraffes and gazelles.
Around the globe, these animals have been prized for converting ubiquitous sunlight and grasses into nutrient-rich energy. They also thrive on perennial grasses, which sequester carbon with their deep rooted growing systems. In combination with allowing the grasses to regrow after eating them down, their dung returns nutrients to the soil and allows regeneration. Regenerative farming can add topsoil where it has eroded and even reverse desertification where it has already occurred.
While confined-animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are perhaps the most egregious environmental and animal rights atrosity; domesticated ruminants which are grass-fed and grass-finished indeed restore the land and provide the most nutrient-dense meat and organs available today. Joel Salatin has great perspective on this in Pastured Poultry Profits. He suggests that while your doctor tells you to eat more greens and get more sunlight, so should your dinner.
Four-chambered stomach system
The ruminant stomach has four-chambers:
- The first stomach is the rumen. This is known as Plain, Flat, or Blanket Tripe. Jennifer McLagan also suggests Shag Tripe. I agree that Blanket Tripe most closely resembles a shag rug.
- The second stomach is the reticulum, aka Honeycomb Tripe. It is also referred to as ‘bonnet’ in French – which approximates it’s shape. This is the most commonly prepared and most tender stomach.
- The third stomach is the omasum. The thin overlapping folds on the lining of this stomach lead to the names Book or Bible Tripe.
- The final and fourth stomach, the abomasum, is the true stomach of the ruminant. This stomach is known as Reed Tripe. However, it is more commonly used to extract rennet, used in cheesemaking.
(I still don’t know which sheep stomach is most commonly stuffed for Scottish Haggis… Send me a note if you know!)
Purchasing tripe
In my experience, tripe in stores comes bleached white, cleaned and cooked. Else, I get it fresh from the farm, which requires quite a bit of cleaning – as I describe here!
“Fresh” tripe in a store may refer to bleached tripe that is only partially cooked. “Green tripe” is cleaned, but not cooked. As Jennifer McLagan notes, it’s actually more brownish and less greenish. This is consistent with my experience of cleaned and uncooked tripe as well.
In my experience in Chicago, I’ve noticed that several ethnic grocery stores carry tripe. You may have similar success in your community. No harm in reaching out to your local grass-fed farmers as well.
Cleaning and preparing tripe
I’ve realized that whether you have fresh or bleached tripe, both require rinsing and cleaning before cooking. Blanket and Honeycomb Tripe require similar preparation.
With fresh tripe, you need to remove any fat or extraneous membranes off of the back (or outside) of the stomach before carefully scrubbing and rinsing out any sand or debris from between the folds or lining of the tripe. In the past I’ve used vinegar and salt to clean the fresh tripe, or just some intense scrubbing under running water.
Chris Cosentino suggests washing well and dipping in not-quite-boiling vinegar to remove any odor. Additionally, you could wash it further with a mixture of flour, water and salt (1 cup flour to 1/2 gallon water) if desired.
For bleached tripe, some cooks recommend just rinsing. Others suggest a 30 minute soak in lime juice or vinegar and salt before scrubbing and rinsing several more times. Here, Cosentino describes a more elaborate process of scrubbing really well under running water. Then soaking in ice water with rock salt and vinegar and scrubbing like crazy. Clean the tripe, bring to a boil, drain (do not reserve water) and rinse again. Repeat this entire process as necessary to remove the combination of bleach and ‘funk’ to an acceptable level.
Book Tripe is a bit more delicate and requires rinsing the ‘pages’ and in between, bringing to a quick boil, and finally rinsing in cold water before use.
Cooking tripe
Most recipes will call for cutting into equal sized strips or squares, and then braising for 1-3 hours until tender.
However, bleached versions will almost always have some advance cooking that may vary significantly. It’s important to check your recipe half way through cooking and occasionally in the latter half of cooking to determine when it’s tender and finished. As Fergus Henderson notes, ‘[check] the tripe’s giving qualities with a sharp knife. Be careful, as if cooked too long tripe will just melt away.”
Tripe has very little gelatin and many traditional recipes pair tripe with gelatin-rich trotters or skin.
Note that tripe can smell stronger while it’s cooking, than how it will taste. Don’t let that deter you.
Yet, after it’s cooked and tender, it can often taste even better the day after it’s cooked. So with all that work, it’s good to plan for leftovers.
Maw, or pig’s stomach
Finally, while pigs are omnivores, their stomachs are often used for stuffing or in other preparations similar to Blanket Tripe. After removing excess fat and membranes, preparation is similar as above: rinse and scrub, boil, drain, rinse, optionally repeat, and cook. Like ruminants, pig’s stomachs are turned inside out for stuffing.
