Tripe

Tripe (trippa) in an Italian market

Tripe is the upper digestive system of ruminants prepared as edible offal. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep, but may come from other ruminants as well.

Types

Beef

Rumen tripe
Rumen beef tripe, stomach chamber 1. Blanket/flat/smooth tripe.
Reticulum beef tripe
Reticulum beef tripe, stomach chamber 2. Honeycomb/pocket tripe.
Omasum beef tripe
Omasum beef tripe, stomach chamber 3. Book/bible/leaf tripe.
Abomasum beef tripe
Abomasum beef tripe, stomach chamber 4. Reed tripe.

Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's stomach chambers: the rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe), the reticulum (honeycomb/pocket tripe), and the omasum (book/bible/leaf tripe). Abomasum (reed tripe) is seen less frequently, owing to its glandular tissue content.

Other animals

Tripe refers to cow (beef) stomach, but includes stomach of any ruminant including cattle, sheep, deer, antelope, goat, ox, giraffes, and their relatives. Tripas, the related Spanish word, refers to culinary dishes produced from the small intestines of an animal. In some cases, other names have been applied to the tripe of other animals. For example, tripe from pigs may be referred to as paunch, pig bag, or hog maw.

Washed tripe

Tripe, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy355 kJ (85 kcal)
0 g
Sugars 0 g
0 g
Dietary fibre0 g
3.69 g
Saturated1.291 g
Monounsaturated1.533 g
Polyunsaturated0.180 g
12.07 g
Vitamins and minerals
VitaminsQuantity
%DV†
Vitamin A equiv.
0%
0 μg
Thiamine (B1)
0%
0 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
5%
0.064 mg
Niacin (B3)
6%
0.881 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
2%
0.1 mg
Vitamin B6
1%
0.014 mg
Folate (B9)
1%
5 μg
Vitamin B12
58%
1.39 μg
Vitamin C
0%
0 mg
Vitamin D
0%
0 μg
Vitamin E
1%
0.09 mg
Vitamin K
0%
0 μg
MineralsQuantity
%DV†
Calcium
5%
69 mg
Iron
3%
0.59 mg
Magnesium
3%
13 mg
Manganese
4%
0.085 mg
Phosphorus
5%
64 mg
Potassium
2%
67 mg
Sodium
4%
97 mg
Zinc
13%
1.42 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water84.16 g
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.

Washed tripe is more typically known as dressed tripe. To dress the tripe, the stomachs are cleaned and the fat trimmed off. It is then boiled and bleached, giving it the white color more commonly associated with tripe as seen on market stalls and in butchers' shops. The task of dressing the tripe is usually carried out by a professional tripe dresser.

Dressed tripe was a popular, nutritious and cheap dish for the British working classes from Victorian times until the latter half of the 20th century. While it is still popular in many parts of the world today, the number of tripe eaters, and consequently the number of tripe dressers, in the UK has rapidly declined. Tripe has come to be regarded as a pet food, as the increased affluence of postwar Britain has reduced the appeal of this once staple food.

It remains a popular dish in many parts of continental Europe such as Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. In France, a very popular dish, sold in most supermarkets, is tripes à la mode de Caen. In Spain callos a la madrileña are served as tapas in many restaurants as well as in supermarkets. The most beloved and celebrated dish in the city of Porto and surrounding areas, in Portugal, is tripas à moda do Porto, a tripe stew made with white butter beans, carrots, paprika and chouriço. It is so loved that locals are called 'Tripeiros', in an homage to the 'tripa' (tripe).

Dishes

Gulai babat, tripe prepared in a type of curry
Steamed tripe prepared as dim sum
Patsás
Sekba, pig offal in soy sauce stew
Soto babat, spicy tripe soup
Trippa alla livornese
Trippa alla Romana

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

In Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, the close cognate tripas tends to denote small intestines rather than stomach lining. Dishes of this sort include:

Another type of food made from the small intestines are chitterlings (chitlins).

Beef tripe is also a common meat in Kerala, India. Beef tripe and tapioca (kolliyum bottiyum) is a traditional wedding eve dinner for Christians in some parts of Kerala.

Marketing

The Tripe Marketing Board promotes World Tripe Day on 24 October, because on that day in 1662, Samuel Pepys wrote, "So home and dined there with my wife upon a most excellent dish of tripes of my own directing."

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dodgy tummy". New Scientist. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  2. ↑ "Troppa Trippa". History of tripe, worldwide tripe recipes. Neri Editore, Firenze. 1998. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  3. ↑ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  4. ↑ "TABLE 4-7 Comparison of Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in This Report to Potassium Adequate Intakes Established in the 2005 DRI Report". p. 120. In: Stallings, Virginia A.; Harrison, Meghan; Oria, Maria, eds. (2019). "Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. pp. 101–124. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. NCBI NBK545428.
  5. ↑ IFIS Dictionary of Food Science and Technology. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009. ISBN 978-1-4051-8740-4.
  6. ↑ "United Cattle Products". Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Butchers Hook". Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Houlihan, Marjorie (2011). A Most Excellent Dish (The English Kitchen). Prospect Books. ISBN 978-1-903018-81-1.
  9. ↑ Varille, Mathieu (1928). La Cuisine Lyonnaise. Champion-Slatkine reprint. p. 53.
  10. ↑ Riley, Gillian (2007-11-01). The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. Oxford University Press. s.v. tripe, p. 532. ISBN 978-0-19-156700-1.
  11. ↑ Montagné, Prosper (1976). Larousse gastronomique. Internet Archive. London : Hamlyn. pp. 663–665. ISBN 978-0-600-02352-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  12. ↑ a "Ville de Caen - Tourisme et histoire". Archived from the original on 2010-07-25. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  13. ↑ "Tripes in Nigerian tomato sauce". naijatastebuds.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ↑ Trippa alla Ragusana
  15. ↑ "World Tripe Day: Can We Fall in Love with Tripe Again?". BBC News. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2019.