Tripe

Because this book is about obsessions, and because I have been allowed to choose anything I really love, I have chosen tripe. Tripe is wonderfully digestible and very nutritious. In fact, it was once given to sickly children or invalids. That is probably why I became so fond of it - I was indeed a very sickly child. It seems to have done its trick because I now have the constitution of an ox.

A lot of people were put off tripe in their childhood by being made to eat the rather bland, soggy tripe and onions so beloved of English semi-nursery food. I have to say that I have never liked tripe and onions, but I do love tripe. There are many and various ways of preparing it. It is a substance that takes up flavorings and textures remarkably well.