Name: Tripe and Pig’s Feet Stew (Tripes au Safran)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon tomato paste; ¾ cup flour; 1 teaspoon vegetable oil; ½ pound jambon de Bayonne, prosciutto, or Serrano ham, cut into ⅜-inch dice; ¼ teaspoon saffron threads; Herb bouquet: 3 sprigs parsley, 1 sprig thyme, and 1 imported bay leaf tied together with string; ¼ cup sliced celery; 1 bottle (750 ml) dry white wine; 1½ cups sliced onions; 1½ cups sliced carrots; 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar; 2 pounds cleaned tripe; 1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; 1 teaspoon Herbes de la Garrigue or herbes de Provence; ¾ cup well-washed sliced leeks; 3 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers; ¼ teaspoon Tabasco or more to taste; 1 to 2 teaspoons arrowroot (optional); Coarse kosher salt; 4 fresh pig’s feet

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Cooking of South West France

By Paula Wolfert

Published 1987

About

This extraordinary dish is popular in Albi, where it is alleged to have been invented for the famous Toulouse-Lautrec family. Two foods of superb and varying texture—succulent, gelatinous nuggets of pig’s feet and moist, chewy slices of tripe—carry the perfume of saffron, the strong earthy flavor of garlic, the saltiness of country ham, and the piquant taste of capers.

As in so many recipes of the Southwest, slow cooking is the secret to its succulence. The tripe and its flavorings