The diarist Pepys talks about eating “tripes” in his diary of 1662 and again in 1664. Tripe is also referenced by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns as being an ingredient of haggis in his poem Address to a Haggis. Even the Great Bard of Stratford, Shakespeare, mentions it in his play The Taming of the Shrew where Grumio says to Katherine: “How say you to a fat tripe finely broiled?”
Buying and Preparing Tripe
Tripe is the stomach linings of cattle and is dressed and parboiled before being sold so little preparation is required by the home cook. The occupation of “tripe dresser” appears many times in old census returns and trade directories of the Georgian and Victorian eras of UK history. Tripe and onions is an old, classic Lancashire dish according to the Made in Lancashire website.
Tripe is classed as offal, just like sweetbreads and tongue. It generally has to be ordered in from a butcher as it is rarely available on supermarket shelves. Although it is dressed and parboiled before purchase tripe benefits from long and slow cooking. It is a bit like tofu in that it has no real flavour of its own, but takes on the flavours of the ingredients with which it is cooked.
Traditional Tripe and Onions Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1 lb dressed tripe
- ½ lb onions
- 1 pt milk
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1 oz butter
- Pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 bay leaf
- Fresh chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Peel and slice the onion
- Put the tripe, onion, milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and a good twist of salt and pepper in a saucepan and simmer, covered, for about two hours
- Drain the tripe and onions, reserving 1 pint of the stock
- Melt the butter in the saucepan then gently stir in the flour and cook for a minute before slowly pouring in the reserved stock
- Bring to the boil stirring all the time
- Add the tripe and onions and heat through
- Sprinkle with the parsley as a garnish and serve with mashed potatoes or hot buttered toast
Recipe for Mock Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1lb tripe
- 3 pts water
- 3 onions
- 3 tbsp rice
- 1 cooking apple
- 1oz butter
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Boil the tripe in three pints of water for two hours
- Remove the tripe and let it dry then slice into pieces about an inch square
- Skim the fat off the stock
- Peel and slice the onions
- Peel, core and slice the apple
- Gently sauté the onions and apple in the fat from the stock along with the butter, curry powder, salt and pepper and flour until lightly browned in a saucepan
- Add the tripe, rice and the stock and bring to the boil stirring all the time
- Simmer for half an hour or so until the rice is cooked.
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