Tripe soup or tripe stew is a
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
or
stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...
made with
tripe
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep.
Types
Beef
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's stomach chambers: th ...
(cow or lamb/mutton stomach). It is widely considered to be a
hangover
A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...
remedy.
Etymology
The
Turkish name , meaning "tripe soup", consists of ("stomach/tripe"), ("soup"), and the
possessive affix
In linguistics, a possessive affix (from ) is an affix (usually suffix or prefix) attached to a noun to indicate its possessor, much in the manner of possessive adjectives.
Possessive affixes are found in many languages of the world. The '' Wor ...
that links the two words. It came from
Persian (, "
rumen
The rumen, also known as a paunch, is the largest stomach compartment in ruminants. The rumen and the reticulum make up the reticulorumen in ruminant animals. The diverse microbial communities in the rumen allows it to serve as the primary si ...
") and (, "
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...
"). Some
South Slavic languages
The South Slavic languages are one of three branches of the Slavic languages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These are separated geographically from speakers of the other two Slavic branches (West Slavic la ...
borrowed the dish name from Turkish: as () in
Bulgarian and () in
Macedonian, as () in
Serbian and
Bosnian, and ''Çorbë'' in
Albanian.
Southeastern Europe

Tripe chorba (, , , ) is a common dish in
Balkan
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
,
Eastern European
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...
and
Middle Eastern
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
cuisines. It is widely (not universally) considered to be a
hangover
A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol (beverage), alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than ...
remedy.
In
Greek cuisine
Greek cuisine is the cuisine of Greece and the Greek diaspora. In common with many other Mediterranean cuisine, cuisines of the Mediterranean, it is founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. It uses vegetables, olive oil, grains ...
, tripe soup is known as ''patsas'' () from Turkish () which means trotter. Trotter/() is a different soup in the Turkish cuisine.
Bulgaria

In
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, ''
škembe čorba'' () is made with whole pork, beef or lamb
tripe
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep.
Types
Beef
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's stomach chambers: th ...
, boiled for a few hours, chopped in small pieces, and returned to the broth. The soup is spiced with ground red
paprika
Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...
which is briefly fried (запръжка), and often a small quantity of milk is added. Traditionally, the soup is served with mashed garlic in vinegar and hot red pepper. There is a variant of the soup with
intestines
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...
instead of tripe.
The soup was very popular with the
working class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
until the late 1980s, and there were many restaurants serving only shkembe chorba (''шкембеджийница'', "shkembe-restaurant"). Later they were replaced by
fast food
Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
restaurants but the soup is still highly regarded, and is part of the menu in any cheap to moderately-priced restaurant.
Romania

The
Romanian name for the sour tripe soup is ''
ciorbă de burtă'' (from ''
ciorbă'' 'sour soup' < Turkish ''çorba'' + ''burtă'' 'tripe'). The
Romanian ''ciorbă de burtă'' is similar to ''ciorbă de ciocănele'' (soup from pork legs). ''Ciorbă de burtă'' is often thickened with flour, high fat sour cream/creme fraiche and egg yolks, colored with fried grated carrots or peppers, and seasoned with vinegar, high fat sour cream (''
smântână'') and garlic dip (crushed garlic mixed with oil), called ''
mujdei''. The Romanian journalist Radu Anton Roman said this about Ciorbă de burtă: "This dish looks like it is made for drunk coachmen but it has the most sophisticated and pretentious mode of preparation in all Romanian cuisine. It's sour and sweet, hot and velvety, fatty but delicate, eclectic and simple at the same time."
If sour base made of fermented wheat bran called
borş is used in sour tripe soup, the sour soup is called a borş, not a ciorbă.
Serbia
In
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, this soup is made of fresh tripe cooked with
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...
s,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...
and
paprika
Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...
. It is usually seasoned with fried
bacon
Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...
and more garlic, sometimes thickened with
flour
Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...
(). Some versions of ''shkembe chorba'' are made with milk; garlic, vinegar, and chili peppers are often added as seasoning.
Turkey
In
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, tripe
çorba (
işkembe çorbası) is generally made of cow's stomach and eaten usually with a vinegar-garlic sauce added on the table or with the addition of an egg yolk-lemon juice (called ''
terbiye'') in the kitchen, after cooking and before service. Although the general name is very common, especially at the traditional restaurants dedicated to this soup,
offal
Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat.
Some cultures strong ...
of cow and sheep and (sheep head meat, especially cheeks, baked) are also offered. A dish can be ordered and made from the various parts of the stomach: "". As in several other countries, it is seen as a "hangover remedy" and finds itself a place in almost all New Year's Eve menus, served right after midnight. This has been the case since the 1800s, when it was first reported as a popular soup among
Ottomans
Ottoman may refer to:
* Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire
* Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II"
* Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
to consume immediately after a session of heavy social drinking, usually of
rakı.
Central Europe
In
Croatian cuisine
Croatian cuisine () is heterogeneous and is known as a cuisine of the regions, since every region of Croatia has its own distinct culinary tradition. Its roots date back to Classical Antiquity, ancient times. The differences in the selection of f ...
, it is known as Fileki, Tripice or Vampi.
In
Czech cuisine
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is ...
, tripe soup is heavily spiced with paprika, onions and garlic resulting in very distinct spicy goulash-like flavour. The Czech name is ''dršťková polévka'', often shortened to ''dršťkovka''.
In
German cuisine
The cuisine of Germany consists of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbouring c ...
, there are a number of different versions of sour tripe soup from southern parts of the country, including
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
,
Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
and
Swabia
Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
. Seasonings include lard, onions, garlic, meat broth, wine vinegar, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. In the nineteenth century in parts of the German Empire that are now Poland (like
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
), ''flaki'' were a street food. The tripe was cooked with long bones, celery root, parsley root, onions, and bay leaf. The tripe was then sliced, breaded and fried, and returned to the broth with some vinegar, marjoram, mustard, salt, and pepper.
In
Hungarian cuisine
Hungarian or Magyar cuisine (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Magyar konyha'') is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary, and its primary ethnic group, the Hungarians, Magyars. Hungarian cuisine has been described as being the P ...
, tripe soup is called ''pacalleves'' or simply ''pacal''. ''Pacalpörkölt'' is a tripe stew heavily spiced with paprika.
In
Polish cuisine
Polish cuisine ( ) is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to History of Poland, Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other ...
, tripe soup is known as ''
flaki'' or ''flaczki''.
In
Slovak cuisine
Slovak cuisine varies slightly from region to region across Slovakia. It was influenced by the traditional cuisines, cuisine of its neighbours and it influenced them as well. The origins of traditional Slovak cuisine can be traced to times when ...
, it is known as ''držková polievka'', usually shortened to ''držková''. A stew based on pieces of pre-cooked tripe, lard, and onion spiced with paprika, garlic,
caraway
Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Etymology
The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...
seeds, and
marjoram. It may contain potatoes and rarely also carrots.
Sächsische Flecke 1.jpg, Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
Flecke
Saure Kutteln 3.JPG, Swabia
Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
n Saure Kutteln
Flaki Poland 3657.JPG, Polish '' flaczki'' or ''flaki''
Western and Southern Europe
In
French cuisine
French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...
, ''
tripes à la mode de Caen'' is a traditional dish of the cuisine of
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
and from the
Provence
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
area among others which are famous.
In
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...
, ''trippa alla fiorentina'' is a traditional dish of the
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
and ''trippa alla milanese'' or ''busecca'' is a traditional dish of
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. ''
Caldume'' (Italian) or ''quarumi'' (Sicilian) is a
Sicilian dish of veal tripe stewed with vegetables, served as a
street food
Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...
in
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
and
Catania
Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...
.
[Christian Pancaro, ''La "Quarume", antico piatto dello street food palermitano", ''La Gazzetta Palermitana'', 26 November 201]
full text
'
Tripe à la mode de Caen 2.jpg, ''Tripes à la mode de Caen''
Trippa alla fiorentina.jpg, ''Trippa alla fiorentina''
Trippa alla milanese.JPG, ''Trippa alla milanese''
Africa
Tripe soups/stews in Africa include
Mala mogudu in South Africa, Matumbo wet fry in Kenya and Nigerian tripe stew.
Other countries and regions have different tripe soups and stews.
North and South America
In
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and
Latin American cuisine
Latin American cuisine is the typical foods, beverages, and cooking styles common to many of the countries and cultures in Latin America. Latin America is a highly racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse with varying cuisines. Some i ...
s, tripe soup known as ''
sopa de mondongo'' is eaten.
In
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine consists of the cuisines and associated traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican Cuisine, Mesoamerican cuisine. Mexican cuisine's ingredients and methods arise from the area's first agr ...
, ''
menudo'', a tripe soup with red chili pepper based-broth, is eaten.
In
Peruvian cuisine, and are eaten.
Modongo soup.jpg, Sopa de mondongo
Menudo (sopa de México).JPG, Menudo
Mondonguito a la italiana.jpg, Mondonguito
Caucau.jpg, Cau cau
East and Southeast Asia
In
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from Greater China, China, as well as from Overseas Chinese, Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ...
,
Lanzhou
Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. His ...
-style ''
lamian
Lamian (; "pulled noodles") is a type of soft wheat flour Chinese noodles, Chinese noodle that is particularly common in Northern and southern China, northern China. Lamian is made by twisting, stretching and folding the dough into strands, u ...
'' noodle soup is made with
tripe
Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle and sheep.
Types
Beef
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's stomach chambers: th ...
.
In
Indonesian cuisine
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions by various ethnic groups that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed ...
, ''
sekba'' or ''bektim'' is made using
pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...
tripe and other
offal
Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the internal organ (anatomy), organs of a butchered animal. Offal may also refer to the by-products of Milling (grinding), milled grains, such as corn or wheat.
Some cultures strong ...
.
It is a
Chinese-Indonesian dish.
In
Filipino cuisine
Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippines, Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comp ...
, ''
sopa de mondongo'' is eaten.
Lanzhou lamian.jpg, Lanzhou ''lamian'' featuring tripe
Sekba 2.jpg, Sekba
Similar dishes
A similar dish made with trotters, called
''pache'' or ''pacha'' (, , , , ) is found in the Turkish, Greek, Balkan, and Eastern European cuisines.
See also
*
List of soups
*
Flaki
*
Menudo
*
Sopa de mondongo
*
Tripes à la mode de Caen
References
Further reading
*
{{Soups
Soups
Offal dishes