Thank you

On another note, albeit still on tripe, may it be ox or lamb. Does anyone know if there is any preferential part of the bovine stomach that is most suited for cooking certain dishes? Tripe of course, is derived from the forestomachs of cattle. It is often said that the ruminant specie has four stomachs. The correct anatomy is one stomach with 4 compartments, of which the first three non glandular or secretory compartments are utilized, ergo the forestomach. The rumen has a texture akin to that of a finely textured, high quality towel thus often referred to in our local nomenclature as “tuwalya”. The reticulum is smaller in size and has a honey comb appearance. The third compartment is the omasum which is plicated similar to the leaves of a book. Many goto makers in the metro have shown an affinity towards the reticulum because its honey combed surface allows sauces to be trapped in its recesses, imbedding more flavor to the meat. It is also thicker thus giving it a more springy texture to the bite. I wonder if Vloshpach chefs give similar preference to that portion of tripe.

Tripe’s main attraction for me is the bite. That soft, yet springy texture the Taiwanese refer to as Q (thanks for the link, Lee!) , and that slightly sticky mouthfeel from dissolved collagen when it is cooked correctly. As for the taste, I guess there’s no animal in me. I prefer that it be stripped of its natural aroma with only a hint of clean offal remaining, and a lot of umami- free to take on the taste of the other ingredients in the dish.

I wonder though if tripe would still be tempting to us if its essential flavour were totally expunged (as when one heeds Batali’s suggestion to resort to vanilla extract to deodorize it). Cheap but our acceptance of its other equally powerful allure, earthiness, I suspect, is linked to our animal nature.