Comments on: A Lesson in Tripe

By: Carol Cross

Carol Cross — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 20:41:28 +0000

My grandfather was a tripe dresser and offal butcher managing a shop on the corner of Brixton Road and Robsart street in the 1950s and earlier. The name of his shop was Martin’s, obviously owned by the wholesaler Edmund Martin of Smithfield. Today after 70 years I returned to that shop in Brixton it is now a Columbian coffee shop and the proprieters were very interested in it’s history. I remember being brought up on tripe and onions and at the age of 5 being put into the window on a Sunday to clean the marble slab and glass.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 16:01:31 +0000

Hi
Reply to Sally ; my family had at their peak! ( in 1900) 9 Tripe Shops across north London. What they were like has fascinated me. I have a description from a distant relative who lived above one, until the 1950s. I always wondered if we were connected to the Martin business. The Tripe families married! other Tripe Butchers / Dressers ..mine go back to early 1700s.

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:16:58 +0000

Edmund Martin was my mother’s Uncle Ted. His father and some of his brothers were also in the offal business. My grandmother (Ted’s sister) always carved the roasts, and my mother fed us a lot of offal.

By: Jonny James

Jonny James — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:08:44 +0000

I had tripe and noodle soup for breakfast this morning from a small local restaurant here in Bangkok, set me up and cured my hangover.

By: hc

hc — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:36:53 +0000

In Lisbon and also in Oporto we cook tripe in a wonderful manner, either with white beans or chickpeas (garbanzo beans?). It’s tender, soft, a divine experience 🙂
I see that not only Portuguese people enjoy it…
Your blog is so good. Thanks.

By: Chris F

Chris F — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:51:09 +0000

My gran used to eat Chitterlings (I think that’s how it’s spelt) Utterly ghastly stuff, I want to balk just thinking about it. The stuff stank awful even when she doused it in vinegar. I’m sure it is part of the tripe family (Possibly from pigs?) I tried it and it was like chewing on a rubber bathing cap, but to her it was pure caviar.

By: Anne Forster

Anne Forster — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:23:38 +0000

No , sorry, just can’t go there! My mother used to eat it though. Can’t think of anything worse.

By: Skaag Argonius

Skaag Argonius — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:51:20 +0000

I think as long as you do not prepare the dish yourself, it is probably much more appealing. During preparation most of the smell and taste are masked, and are mostly faded by the time you manage a bite…

But just try to prepare it; the smells and texture will remain with you forever. See, I was raised in a house that consumed Tripe only during special occasions (which I dreaded for that reason), and I have always hated Tripe with a passion. I still remember my grandmother scraping the glands off with a very sharp knife… the horror…! 🙂

By: Leo

Leo — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:59:52 +0000

We have a horrifying soup in Greece called patsas that has this in it (along with intestines). I would describe the texture like eating a rubber towel. Whenever my grandma made it, the house smelled like a bowel movement.

By: Kavey

Kavey — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:30:07 +0000

“Having attempted to walk this life with an open mind, I soon realized that I had tripe prejudice simmering on a low heat in my heart. ”

I have kept an open mind too, and always try some, whenever anyone orders it, when I’m present… I figure I might find a dish in which it works for me. But it’s texture is simply not one I enjoy and the taste seems too mild to help me overcome the texture.

Most recently, I was invited onto Market Kitchen (they’ve been getting a long list of bloggers to join the panel) and tripe was one of the dishes. I tried it, of course, but still didn’t like it…

The thought of it certainly doesn’t make me feel sick, as it seems to do for some people!!

Great interview!