More than tripe - a Ligurian love affair

 

Liguria loves tripe

Mad about entrails - from Apicius to Escoffier, Bergese, Brera, Veronelli, Camporesi, Monelli, Carnacina, Alberini, Gualtiero Marchesi... Need I say more?

Italy's love affair with offals also shows in idioms and movie quotes. 

Braised by the Greeks, used by the Romans in their numberless hearty types of sausage, tripe started featuring in several volumes in the 14th century. 

The term "tripe" does not relate to the intestines. It hints at a section of the digestive system, located between the oesophagus and the stomach. 

Tripe: rumen, reticulum, and omasum. The stomach itself (abomasum) is not part of the intestine. 

The reticulum and rumen are tasty and lean; the omasum is the most delicate part. The abomasum is the main star in Florence's legendary lampredotto.

Opt for scarcely processed tripe: the best variety is the so-called "grey" one, washed and quickly bleached. 

It would take hundreds of pages to explore the whole Italian tripe cookbook (Moncalieri, Lodi, Florence, Naples...). In Liguria, the omasum features in both ancient trippa accomodata and trippe alla sbira, a dish commonly eaten by guards in the Torre Grimaldina jail of Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. 

Greater Savona boasts the so-called trippa speciale recipe (thin strips) created by marquis Beppe Gavotti, a delegate of the Italian Academy of Cuisine.

Lastly, the "trippe alla sciabecca" feature offals and beef stew - once a hearty must for porters and factory workers during their lunch break. Trippe "a-ö verde" tripe, cooked without tomatoes, are flavoured with chopped parsley and bay leaves.

My English abstract of Umberto Curti's article as published in Liguria Food

Luisa Puppo 

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