Recipe(tried): Tripe with Chick Peas, Mondongo for Tanvir.

Tripe is a delicacy in Spain, South America & the Caribbean. In our supermarkets you can buy TRIPE already cleaned. It will hardly smell when you are cooking it. Anyway, if you prefer the traditional method or do not have the product already cleaned, my suggestion is that you wash it first with some soap & water. Then you submerge the tripe in water with 3 or 4 lemons or in water with sour orange, you boil it for a few minutes in this water. Then, you throw away that water & wash it with just water for the last time. Then, you are ready to cook it it in your preferred recipe. For your benefit I am including two recipes, one typical of Puerto Rico & the other typical of Spain. But remember that you must clean your tripe first very thoroughly.

For buying the product already cleaned, I suggest that you look for it in Latin Supermarkets.

Tripe with Chick Peas (Callos Madrilena-Spain)
Servings 4-6

2 pounds tripe
6 cups water with 3 tablespoons salt
8 strips bacon
2 cups potatoes cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
3 chorizos or pepperoni, sliced in 1/8-inch rounds
1 cup cooked canned chick peas
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups water
2 tablespoons diced pimento
1 cup white wine

Boil the tripe in 6 cups salted water until tender (a pressure cooker may be used for faster cooking). Discard all fat. Rinse the tripe and cut into 1/2-inch squares. Set aside. In a large skillet, fry the bacon. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, fry potatoes, chorizos or pepperoni and chick peas. Add tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add bacon and tripe, white wine and 2 cups of water. Stir. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add pimento; add a little water if the mixture is too dry and continue cooking until soft. Stir to blend flavors and serve hot over white rice.

MONDONGO (Puerto Rico)

2 lbs cleaned tripe
3 green lemons
1 onion
1 green pepper
1/2 can tomato sauce
2 tb olive oil
1/4 lb ham used for cooking
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantrillo
2 tb chopped fresh parsley
1 envelope Saz n con Culantro y Achiote Goya
1/2 lb pumpkin
3/4 lb potatoes
1 can Chickpeas
5 cups water or chicken stock

Wash very well the tripe. Throw that water & wash it again with the juice of three lemons (gren ones) & water. Cover it with this water & boil in that same water for a few minutes. Drain it & thorow that water away. Wash it again. Let it cool & cut it in small pieces. Prepare a SOFRITO with the oil, ham (chopped), onion, pimentos, cilantrillo & parsley, everything well chopped or processed. In a big pot, as for a soup, add the tomato sauce & the Saz n con Culantro & Achiote. Add the Sofrito, chickpeas, the water & the already cut tripe. Season it with salt & pepper. Cook, covered at LOW heat, until the tripe is soft. Add the potatoes & the pumpkin (already peeled & cut in pieces). When the potatoes & pumpkin are soft, your mondongo is ready. Check the seasonings. Serve in a soup dish with white rice, to be added to taste. It is delicious & you will never feel the unsavory smell.