Tripe is a poor dish that uses the cavities between the oesophagus and the stomach of the cow: the rumen the most important part, the reticulum and the omasum also known as the book or centopelli.
From the nutritional point of view it is very rich in protein and poor in fat, therefore digestible but sometimes heavy for the added seasonings. In Tuscany it is cooked with tomatoes, after the discovery of the Americas.
The origin seems to be attributable to the barbarian populations, the etymology is very ancient, even from prehistoric times and the Celtic language; in fact we find the word stripanan from which derives German streifen and English stripe (strip); from tripe derives the term trippaio, who sells tripe and lampredotto in Florence.
Curious is the famous saying "There is no tripe for cats", which has curious Roman origins. Ernesto Nathan, mayor of Rome from 1907 to 1913, decided to cancel the purchase of tripe, which had become too expensive, from the municipal budget. This was purchased for cats, indispensable for hunting mice in the Campidoglio. Hence the famous saying aimed at indicating the shortage of means.
The tripe alla maremmana, compared to the Florentine tripe, has the addition of sausage and red wine, which makes the recipe more tasty and tasty.
