WEIRDNESS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Tripe

Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep.

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

Types of tripe

Beef tripe

Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of only the first three chambers of a cow's stomach: the rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe), the reticulum (honeycomb and 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, giraffes, and their relatives. Tripas, the related Spanish word, also refers to culinary dishes produced from any animal with a stomach. 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

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 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.