Tripe, a traditional delicacy that remains a firm favourite in many homes.
Also known as offal, it is a cut of meat that comes from the stomach lining of farm animals, including cows, pigs, sheep and goats.
Cultures around the world have long been using it as a healthy source of protein. It can be found in the traditional cuisine of Asia, Africa, Europe and parts of the Americas. Tripe is most commonly eaten in dishes such as soups, stews and sauced foods.
Because of its distinctive scent and mild flavour, it is typically heavily spiced and combined with other flavourful foods.
When you buy tripe from a butcher, it has likely already gone through a process of dressing, which may include soaking in brine, bleaching and boiling.
If you buy this type of par-boiled tripe, you should prepare it further at home before cooking. Scrub it with rock salt and vinegar to remove impurities.
Soak the tripe in cold water for five to 10 minutes, then rinse it and cut it into pieces. But for one woman, cleaning tripe meat involves using toothpaste.
A self-taught chef and recipe developer and founder of The Kitchen Muse, Bukie Akinmade recently took to Instagram to detail that one of her followers sent her a video showing how one woman cleans the tripe. Akinmade labelled the woman’s method as a “crazy version”.
“I had to come and show you guys this!!! One of my followers sent me a video of someone cleaning Shaki (tripe) with toothpaste and my jaw dropped. First, I could believe how clean it looked afterwards, and second, how do they come up with these things?! My question is, is this common practice?
“What do they really clean the one we buy at the market with? Look how easy the black layer peeled off, it required little to no effort at all! What do you think?” she captioned the post. The video has brought about a huge debate on social media.
One user wrote: “Bring back the death sentence.”
A second user wrote: “This is a discovery.”
While some thought the version was disgusting, other users claimed that using toothpaste is the best solution.
“I think it’s good, fluoride in toothpaste isn’t harmful to the body, moreover it was only a little bit that did the magic. So this is a great hack,” wrote one user.
Another wrote: “Toothpaste removes plaque and dirt so maybe that’s why and it shouldn’t cause any health issues.”
Read the latest IOL Food DigiMag here.