Trippa alla Romana
If you’re serious about understanding Rome beyond its monuments and museums, you’ll need to eat some stomach. Trippa alla romana, cow’s stomach stewed in tomato sauce with local mentuccia, is a dish that weeds out the tourists from the true believers. It’s silky, savory, and rich, with Pecorino Romano snowed over the top to seal the deal. Its unapologetic character even made its way into local politics: in the early 1900s, Mayor Ernesto Nathan slashed the city budget that paid for feeding stray cats with tripe, coining the phrase non c’ètrippa per gatti, literally “there’s no tripe for the cats.” Today, it’s a classic Roman way to say, “Forget it, there’s nothing for you.” Like the dish itself, the idiom is pure Roman pragmatism: blunt, unsentimental, and deeply rooted in tradition.
9 ingredients
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 3 hrs 35 mins
Trippa alla Romana
Ingredients (9)
Ingredients (9)
Instructions
Place the tripe (1 ½ lb) in a large pot with cold water to cover. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, skimming off any foam that rises to the top.
Once the foam has subsided, add 1 each of the carrot, celery and onion. Cook until the tripe is fork tender, 2 1⁄2 to 3 hours.
Drain, rinse under cold water, then cut the tripe into 1⁄2-inch strips. Rinse out and dry the pot before continuing.
Finely chop the remaining carrot, celery, and onion.
Heat the olive oil (¼ cup) in the large pot over low heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the carrot, celery, and onion. Season with a heavy pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, 20 to 25 minutes.
Add the tomatoes (14 oz), another heavy pinch of salt, and cook until they have lost their raw flavor and reduced slightly, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the tripe to the pot and simmer for 30 minutes more.
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