This Italian Dish Is Known For Tasting Even Better The Next Day

When vacationing in Europe, it's worth trying the dishes of the region, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. After all, many of them aren't commonly available in the United States. Tripe, or "trippa" in Italian, is a cut of meat that comes from the edible stomach lining of ruminant animals (commonly cows). Tripe is consumed all over Italy, but it's a particularly common delicacy in Florence, where it's incorporated into everything from street-food sandwiches to savory, elevated entrees. 

There, trippa alla Fiorentina is one notable dish made mainly with rumen, a type of tripe that comes from the first stomach section of a cow. It's slow-simmered in a tomato sauce alongside some olive oil, salt, pepper, and aromatics, though the herbs and seasonings can vary per recipe. Ingredients like garlic, parsley, or even bay leaves are sometimes added, plus vegetables like onions, celery, and carrots. Trippa alla Fiorentina is one of those Italian comfort foods to try at least once, and rumor has it the dish tastes even better the next day.

Tomatoes are the main ingredient that make up the sauce, but as those tomatoes sit with the other ingredients and aromatics, the flavors have time to marry or blend together long after the dish is cooked. This helps it develop stronger notes as those flavors intertwine, which explains why this delicacy tastes better as leftovers. And as the meat sits in the sauce, it takes on some of that flavor, too.

To prepare trippa alla Fiorentina, the tripe is first seared in the same oil used to saute garlic and other aromatics, giving the meat extra flavor from the start. Once it's simmered in the tomatoes and tomato paste, the sauce attaches to the meat, offering a thick, stew-like consistency. The dish is almost always consumed alongside bread, but there are two ways to eat it. The first is to serve it street food style, turning the tripe into a sandwich using a rosetta roll, a common sandwich bread in Florence. The second is to serve it alongside sliced Tuscan bread, dipping the bread into the trippa alla Fiorentina.

If you plan to eat this tripe dish the next day, there's one thing to remember: reheat it with a little butter. Butter adds fat and moisture to any dish, adding a hint of richness and ensuring the tripe doesn't get dried out as it's reheated. It's also best to reheat trippa alla Fiorentina in a skillet rather than a microwave to ensure the tripe doesn't become too chewy. While someone who's never tried tripe may be hesitant to taste it at first, even Anthony Bourdain believed this cut of meat was one we needed to enjoy more often.