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Tripe Ragout

Tripe ragout is a stew of tripe, celery, onion, tomatoes, and seasonings simmered in beef fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,377 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tripe Ragout

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the tripe into ½ inch strips.

  2. Slice the onion and cook it in the beef fat until softened.

Cook the ragout

  1. Add the cooked onion to the tripe and cook for 15 minutes.

  2. Stir in the tomatoes, celery, and seasonings.

  3. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve with French potato balls.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + tomatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tripe
Forms the main body of the dish and becomes tender with slow cooking.
Strained tomatoes
Add acidity, moisture, and a smooth base for the sauce.
Onion
Softens in the fat and builds sweetness and savory aroma.
Beef fat
Carries flavor and helps the onion soften richly.
Celery
Adds aroma and a tender, slightly crisp bite to the ragout.

The step that matters

Simmer gently and covered. Tripe is tough connective tissue that needs long, low heat to break down and turn tender. A hard boil toughens the meat and can reduce the liquid too quickly, so keep the pot at a gentle simmer with the lid on.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, beef, tomato):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Cuminfits about as well
  3. Celerythe original
  4. Oreganofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, beef, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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