Tripe
(“Trippa”)
Because to clean and prepare the tripe required a tedious and long process, it was a very inexpensive part of the interiors of beef, pork or lamb, and used for food by the poor people or cooked in first-class restaurants for their gourmet customers.
Today most supermarkets carry cleaned and par-cooked tripe, it needs to be briefly cooked until your preferred tenderness and sautéed into a sauce or mixed with onion, celery, carrots and olive oil-lemon dressing.
The honeycomb tripe is considered the best and the most popular.
In Sicily there are many way to cook tripe: we will propose “Trippa cu’ pumaroru”, tripe with tomato and peas, “Trippa alla Olivetana”, tripe in the style of the Benedictine nuns of our Lady of Mt. Oliveto, and “Trippa a’ nzalata”, tripe salad.
Tripe Stewed with Tomato and Peas
(“Trippa con Pomodoro e Piselli")
("Trippa cu’ Sucu e Piseddi”)
Tripe with tomato sauce is the most traditional way to prepare it.
It is not a complicated dish and can be prepared with few ingredients; it is very tasty and especially preferred in cold weather accompanied with crusty bread and a dry red wine.
Ingredients
- 4 lb. of par-cooked tripe
- 2 bay leaves (laurel)
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 stalk of celery finely chopped(optional)
- 1 carrot finely minced (optional)
- 1 can of Italian peeled tomatoes (28 oz.)
- 12 basil leaves, torn
- salt and pepper to taste
- grated pecorino cheese to taste
- 1 12oz. package of sweet peas cooked following manufacturer directions
Cut the tripe in strips, about 1 ½ by ½ inch and place in a pot with an abundant amount of lightly salted water with the bay leaves, bring to a boil. Cook for 25 minutes, remove from pot using a slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain. Discard bay leaves.
Drain and set on the side the liquid from the peeled tomatoes, cut the tomatoes into pieces, remove most of the seeds and set aside with the tomato juice.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over a low heat, add onions, optional celery, carrots and cook for about 5 minutes, raise to medium, add the tomato paste diluted into ½ cup of water and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add tripe into the pot, sauté for 5 minutes and add the peeled tomatoes, salt and pepper.
Simmer for 25 minutes, taste for salt and pepper and continue cooking until tripe is tender.
Add cooked peas, bring to a boil and serve immediately with crusty bread, a hearty red wine, pecorino cheese and red pepper.
At Joe’s of Avenue U, we served the tripe with stewed potatoes.
Tripe Olivetana
(“Trippa alla Olivetana" – "Trippa alivetana”)
The church of Saint John of the Hermits is one of the most famous landmarks in Palermo. It was built in the Arabic-Norman style. It has single nave surmounted by five picturesque cupolas in vivid red color. The garden adjacent to the church is full of fragrant flowers and citrus blossoms.
The small cloister, with a well or a cistern in the center, was part of the original monastery of the order of the Benedictine nuns of our Lady of Mt. Oliveto, who occupied this site to the end of the XI century. The nuns prepared the tripe called “Olivetana” with the few ingredients they had available: their creativity and skill resulted in this delicious dish still being prepared to present days.
There are many versions of tripe Olivetana, and many places in Sicily claim the originality of this course, some bake it, some make into a pie, and even though they use the same ingredients adding boiled eggs instead of cooking the eggs with the tripe, gives a different finished product.
This is a popular recipe used in Palermo. My family made “trippa alivetana” using this recipe, and in the same way we cooked tripe Olivetana at Joe’s of Avenue U, in Brooklyn, NY.
Ingredients
- 4 lb. of par-cooked tripe
- 2 bay leaves (laurel)
- 2 cloves, whole
- skin of ½ lemon
- 1 small eggplant, skin on, cut into strips 1 ½ X 1 inch
- enough of your preferred oil to fry eggplant
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 pinch or small envelope of saffron
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- grated pecorino cheese to taste
- chopped parsley for garnish
Cut the tripe in strips, about 1 ½ by ½ inch and place in a pot with an abundant amount of lightly salted water with the bay leaves, cloves, lemon skin and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes, taste for doneness, if it is not cooked to your liking continue cooking until tripe is tender.
Remove from pot using a slotted spoon, place in a colander to drain. Discard bay leaves, cloves and lemon skin.
Fry the eggplant and set aside.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over a low heat, add onions and when translucent (about 7 minutes), turn heat up to medium, add tripe and sauté for 5 minutes.
Dilute the saffron in ½ cup of water and add to pot. The cooking tripe should be soupy, if it is too dry add more water, taste for salt and pepper, simmer for a few minutes.
Beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons of grated cheese and as the tripe is simmering rapidly blend in the eggs-cheese mixture and as soon as the eggs coagulate remove from the stove and serve.
Garnish each dish with some of the fried eggplant and freshly chopped parsley.
Offer extra cheese on the side, fresh bread, and a light young white wine.
Tripe Salad
(“Trippa all’Insalata" – "Trippa a’nzalata”)
Tripe salad is a fast way to serve it. I sampled it in popular “osterie”, a place similar to a wine bar and I’ve made and enjoyed it on many occasions.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 lb. of par-cooked tripe
- 1 bay leaf (laurel)
- 1 clove, whole
- ½ onion whole
- 2 whole garlic cloves
- 1 stalk of celery in 3 pieces
- 1 carrot cut in big pieces
- skin of ½ lemon
- few springs of fresh parsley
- juice of 2 medium lemons
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- 1 celery heart cut into small pieces
- 2 small baby carrots finely sliced
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped parsley for garnish
Preparation
Cut the tripe in strips, about 1 ½ by ½ inch and place in a pot with an abundant amount of lightly salted water with the bay leaf, clove, whole onion, garlic cloves, stalk of celery in 3 pieces, carrot cut in big pieces, few springs of fresh parsley, the lemon skin and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25 minutes, taste for doneness, if is not cooked to your liking continue cooking until tripe is tender.
Remove from pot using a slotted spoon, place in a colander to drain and discard bay leaves, cloves, lemon skin, onion, garlic, celery, carrot and parsley springs.
When tripe has cooled, place in a large serving dish and add the red onion, celery and the finely sliced carrots.
Blend the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and mix with the tripe and vegetables .
Garnish the tripe salad with some freshly chopped parsley and serve with spongy fresh bread to dip into the dressing - a light young red wine goes well with it.
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