Though not everyone likes tripe, Italians tend to be great fans of it, and I discovered why when my mother-in-law made it for me. It's very tasty, and also quite delicate. Trotters require a similar openness, and can be just as satisfying, especially in winter. And then there are other organs, such as liver...
A rich winter recipe for beef tongue; the pickles are a bit unusual for Italy, and are optional. But they are a nice touch.
This is an old Piemontese recipe that will work equally well with pig or beef tongue, though you will need two of the former. In Piemonte it's generally served instead of the first course, though you may decided to serve it with a salad as a light lunch, together with a bottle of Dolcetto.
Though you may associate sweet-and-sour with Chinese cooking, the tradition goes way back in Italy too. This will be nice cool in the summer months, and warm in winter.
Mustard isn't that common in Italian cooking, but is the perfect ingredient for a refreshing summer sauce. Depending upon the mustard you choose to use, this will be either mild or pack a definite zing.
People don't often eat pork skins any more, but back in the days when famine was always lurking nothing was allowed to go to waste. And as is often the case with so-called lesser meats, the ingenuity people used in preparing them led to very tasty dishes. Pork and beans are an old standby, and as you might guess, you can also use pork skins. This recipe is from Lombardia, and will be a very nice way of keeping winter at bay.
People don't often eat pork skins any more, but back in the days when famine was always lurking nothing was allowed to go to waste. And as is often the case with so-called lesser meats, the ingenuity people used in preparing them led to very tasty dishes. Cotenne e Verdure is a Sicilian recipe, and a testament to frugality.
People don't often eat pork skins any more, but back in the days when famine was always lurking nothing was allowed to go to waste. And as is often the case with so-called lesser meats, the ingenuity people used in preparing them led to very tasty dishes. Cotechinata are pigskin rollups, a specialty from Basilicata: true peasant food of a sort that one doesn't encounter often nowadays.
Tripe is a universal Italian dish; this is a Piemontese variation, and will serve 6:
Tripe Asti Style: This invariably appears on the menu of Asti's Trattoria Vecchia Salera on market days. Some of the ingredients, especially udder, are hard to come by. Either ask your butcher to procure it for you or check an oriental market.
Tripe 'Olivetana Style: This is an extremely rich Sicilian way of preparing tripe, with veal, cheese, and more.
"In the past," writes Livio Jannattoni in La Cucina romana e del Lazio, "tripe, like many other foodstuffs, was sold in the streets of Rome. Both Bartolomeo Pinelli and Gigi Zannazzo mention it; the latter recalls, "The old fashioned Tripparoli, with their schifo (a tray; the word now also means disgusting) laden with tripe, feet, pieces of veal and calf heads, and more, would go from house to house crying out, "Tripe, trotters, and the rest of the muzzle!"
Buttered Cow's Foot: This is an old, old recipe one rarely encounters now, and is drawn from Pellegrino Artusi's La Scienza in Cucina e l'Arte di Mangiar Bene, the first successful cookbook aimed at the middle class.
Corsican Style Tripe: Artusi says, "You will find this tripe to be unique: tasty, easy to digest, and better than any other you have tasted yet. Its secret lies in use of a well made meat sauce, which must be abundant, because the tripe will absorb a great deal. Beware, however, that this dish cannot be made in those areas where beef trotters are sold skinned, because the gelatinous gristle is necessary to bind the sauce." He doesn't say why it's Corsican.
Tripe Bound with Egg: In other words, the sauce is thickened with eggs. The recipe is drawn from Pellegrino Artusi's La Scienza in Cucina e l'Arte di Mangiar Bene, the first successful cookbook aimed at the middle class.
Tongue of Veal with Olives: Mira Sacerdoti suggests veal tongue be served at Passover, and notes that it's much easier to slice it after it has been boiled.
I don't particularly care for liver, but Elisabetta's Uncle Guerrando has made a convert of me. These are rich but delicately flavored, and perfect on a cold winter day. To feed 4 will require about an hour and fifteen minutes' preparation time.
It's a classic Italian dish. Background, preparation, and a basic recipe.
An unusual summer recipe that will make converts even of tripe haters; from my review of Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating.
"When tripe's mentioned, do you go OOH! or UGH!" asks Eric Shackle, and then looks to see how it's cooked around the world.
Erica de Mane started working in a restaurant that did organ meats, among other things. Some she hasn't done since then, but tripe she likes, and this is her variation on the Roman method of cooking it.
