1. Cows have four stomachs but tripe is generally made only from the first three.
2. “Blanket” tripe comes from the first stomach, “honeycomb” tripe from the second and “book, bible or leaf” tripe from the third.
3. Tripe is low in calories and total fat and an excellent source of zinc and vitamin B-12.
4. “Tripe” has been used as a term of abuse for people or things since the 16th century.
5. In his diary for October 24, 1662, Samuel Pepys reports eating, “a most excellent dish of tripes of my own directing, covered with mustard.”
6. This presumably is why October 24 is celebrated as World Tripe Day.
7. His diary entry for April 9, 1664 however reports Pepys eating tripe for dinner but later, “I found myself sick in my stomach and vomited, which I do not use to do.”
8. The Taming Of The Shrew is the only Shakespeare play that specifically mentions eating tripe…
9. …though in Henry IV Part 2, Doll Tearsheet calls First Beadle a “tripe-visag’d rascal”.
10. “Do not let the word ‘tripe’ deter you. Let its soothing charms win you over, and enjoy it as do those who always have!” (Fergus Henderson).