Tripes

Because tripe is sold precooked, the mythical tripes à la mode de Caën and a host of other folklorique and daube-like recipes are either impossible or impractical to prepare. Others of the daube family may be simplified and given only a couple of additional hours of gentle cooking with the happiest of results. Tripes à la Niçoise, for instance: a bed of mirepoix, a parboiled split calf’s foot, large bones removed, tripe cut into narrow 2- or 3-inch strips, salt and a generous sprinkling of herbs, a glass of white wine, peeled and seeded, chopped tomatoes or canned ones, crushed or chopped garlic, sometimes a very light flour thickening; the dish is brought to a boil and barely simmered, tightly covered, for a couple of hours. Prepared in this way, tripe is often gratinéed, as in Florence—spread in a shallow oven dish, sprinkled with Parmesan, and put for 15 minutes in a hot oven.