cow stomach sandwiches in Florence?
 

I read this article about Tripe sandwiches in Florence? They sound gross. Has anyone else tried these?
http://noambit.typepad.com/my_weblog...-like-a-l.html

I love tripe, but then again, I grew up with it so I don't see anything wrong with it.

It's funny, but people have no trouble eating snails, oysters, clams, clalmari, mussels and a myriad of other gross stuff simply because they grew up seeing their parents eating it, so to their eye, it's perfectly normal.

One of my most unforgettable meals was a steaming bowl of tripe stew at a little mom & pop restaurant off the beaten track in Venice. Even though I had eaten lunch 20 minutes earlier, I went in to get a soft drink, saw the tripe simmering on the stove and just had to have it. My traveling companions had never had tripe, but they stepped up and joined me. They loved it and still talk about that meal to this day.

Well, I'm pretty much a fearless eater, but the first time I tried a tripe sandwich - it was in Florence on the Piazza della Signoria, and I thought it was barbecue! - I literally spat it out onto the sidewalk, to the amazement of the vendor, other customers, and passersby. NOT a pretty picture, but honestly, it completely grossed me out. I've never tried it again since.

I do love snails and octopus and ostrich and foie gras and even some insects, but tripe....no thanks!

Does it taste like chicken? ;;) ((*))

"Does it taste like chicken?"
Much better!

Oh, do not call it using the simple word "trippa" !
In Florence (and its surrounding area) you have to call it "lampredotto" which is one of the four stomachs of cows !
Florence people love it in the sandwich way that you described.


Vincenzo

Dobrada com feijao branco ("lampredotto" with white beans).
hummmmm... I feel now like Pavlov's dogs.
http://bp2.blogger.com/_FUmb3jGRP80/...obrada+007.jpg

Tripe is not only experienced in Florence, but definitely give it a try if you are there: its really good, when well-prepared.

The Italians in general and Romans in particular, use far more of their animals for food than is traditional in North America. Read Anthony Capella's "The Food of Love" for the whole story: its fiction and somewhat silly as a love story, but BOY does he know his 'parts'!

Why is tripe any more "gross" than liver? It is used a lot in Mexican cooking, too.

Hm. I think it's sad to dismiss a new-to-you, but popular elsewhere, food stuff as "gross." In every culture their food defines them as much as anything else, and being open to the possibility of trying new things (whether or not they end up being palatable to you) also leaves you open to a deeper understanding of the culture. Plus, who knows, you might end up trying something you truly love!

Tripe, properly prepared is quite a savory dish. In French, Italian and other cuisines, it is highly prized. The renowned Marcella Hazan has some wonderful recipes for tripe; as well as Julia Child. I find "trippa e Fagioli to be a very satisfying winter dish.

Some tourists just "fare una brutta figura".

You can still get your tripe in disguise, at home in the U.S. by chowing down on cheap hot dogs!!!!!!
Better to eat it fresh and prepared with other good ingredients.

I agree. And I find it a bit odd that someone would post a new topic just to say that she or he thought a food not known to them was "gross." Why am I certain that the OP is American? What is the point of the original post? I am quite certain that it was not to ask if he or she should seek out this food once in Florence.

If done properly tripe can be good. In fact, if anything is prepared properly using the very freshest of ingredients it can taste good including sweetbreads, haggis, etc.

Part of travel is the adventure of trying new-to-you foods! :)

We ate the tripe sandwiches in Florence at the indoor market (can't remember the name) for breakfast with a bunch of locals at around 10:30 am, many were drinking wine too.

I forgot to add they were delicious, but we've eaten tripe often in many ways.

I have cooked tripe in tomato sauce for my Italian father-in-law (he loves it!) and I have sampled it each time. I don't have a problem with the taste as much as with the texture - kind of like chewing a cellulose sponge...

When in Peru, you might want to try roasted guinea pig. Yummy. ((*))

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/346297/index.html

Jed, eating parts of a cow are OK for me, but the ghost of my childhood pet guinea pig ("Pinky") would haunt my dreams if I ate one of her relatives.

Thanks everyone. Seems that the taste is not bad...its the look and texture that might be a challenge for me but I'll give it a try.

Jean - Some years ago, my kids had a guinea pig named Harold. We then discovered it was a girl, so it became Haroldina. I fell in love with it.

One day it stopped eating. We took it to our vet friend, who did an xray and found that she had a volvulus, or a twisted intestine. He operated and untwisted it. He put in an subcutaneous saline drip, but next day she died. She got a decent burial in our back yard, with all the rest of our pet friends. ((*))

Well, at least Haroldina didn't end up on the barbee.

I have a very fresh update.
Last Thursday I went to Florence and, by the way, when I go to Florence I never know if it is because of my job or only for my leisure, and a friend of mine, who was born in Florence and lives in Florence and knows very well his born town, when I told him about this conversation focused on lampredotto, invited me to have lunch with him at, in his opinion, the kingdom of lampredotto in Florence: IL MAGAZZINO at Piazza della Passera, close enough to Palazzo Pitti.
I am sorry but I repeat that I do not like this food, therefore that experience helped me to maintain my diet, anyway I could see how much other people appreciated very much lampredotto and its relatives food.
The place is very pretty.
Its website is www.tripperiailmagazzino.com

Vincenzo

I have to agree with ekscrunchy about the disgust of eating tripe versus that of liver. If you people would realize that liver is the most toxic thing in the body, you would not eat it. The liver filters out all the poisons and vile things that the body consumes, and cleans out these vile objects before they are digested. The problem here is that much of this disgusting stuff is not eliminated, and large traces of it remain in the liver, only to be consumed by the person that eventually eats that garbage called the liver.

Now Now, Waldo! Can you honestly tell me that you could pass up a tasty sandwich of chopped chicken liver on rye bread??

Or a nice slice of seared foie gras?

On a somewhat, if tenuously, related subject, here is an article from this week's NY Times about children who are eager to sample "odd" foods:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/di...mp;oref=slogin

Yum. I loooove the Spanish stew "Callos" where tripe is the star. And the Vietnamese pho with tripe. Make that extra spicy please.

Will make sure to look for the tripe sandwich and anything with tripe when we go to Italy in a few days.

Regarding liver: we stopped eating calves liver years ago. Still, I wouldn't say no to a really good chopped liver with a hefty dose of schmaltz. And a superb seared foie gras with some calvados, maybe? Not too pc, sorry.

What a coincidence: I am watching public tv and the show "Gourmet's Diary" has just showcased the tripe stand of Sergio Pollini in the Santa Croce quarter of Florence.

To akscrunchy- Yep, I would surely pass up chicken livers and foie gras for a good ole hamburger. Liver has the highest cholesterol of any food we eat, that is because cholesterol is manufactured in the liver, and it remains there even after the liver is separated from the body. I ain't no elite, but I sure don't want to conciously poison myself if I can help it.

>cow stomach sandwiches in Florence?

Any worse than goose livers, pigs feet, veal kidneys, thymus glands?

((I))

I love goose liver, pigs' feet, veal kidneys, and thymus glands, but cannot stand - no way, no how - tripe!

Ever see where an egg comes from?

Sweetbreads are , for me an excellent cold weather dish. Now a good spleen sandwich as done in Palermo, Sicily is heaven anytime. Trippa e Fagioli, is another hearty toothsome dish. If you do not try to understand the food, and its history, of a culture...you do not understand the culture.

Ah yes, eggs .....those little chicken abortions....Now that is gross.....lol

In Puerto Rico, the best tripe dish is called mondongo. It is considered the best hangover food. It is common enough to be served at least once a month at my work cafeteria.

And in Mexico, menudo is touted as the cure for a raging hangover! And I don't even want to think about what animal parts were in the various phos I've had on visits to Vietnam!

What I learned from watching the show yesterday was that the cow has four stomachs...I had always wondered about the differences between raw tripe that I have seen in meat markets..the various stomachs are different in color and very different in appearance.

Lampredotto ( well loved in Florence) is from the 4th stomach; here is a photo of the stand near the Amex office (not the one that was featured on the PBS show):



http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/b...otto/index.htm

All good......In the U.S. most if not all Tripe is sold cleaned and boiled. When you get it in supermarkets that carry extensive specialty foods; it is very white and ready to cook.

I am absolutely crazy about pig's ears. Hmmmmm...