Switcheroo? Read an excerpt from my story when the protagonists, Nick and Erin, are introduced to this soup dish
They followed her into the kitchen, and Nick glanced at a large pot on the stove, the source of the aroma.
Rosa caught his glance and beckoned. “It’s menudo.
Manny’s friends are coming over tomorrow night. They get together once a month to play cards.” Rosa smiled at Erin and gestured toward the pot.
“Your father liked it.”
Erin peered into the greasy, brown liquid simmering. “What’s in it?”
“Tripas”
Nick breathed. “Mm, tripa.” He turned to Erin. “It’s soup made from the belly of the beast—tripe.”
Erin’s eyebrows shot up. “You got Dad to eat tripe?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Manny grinned. “And it’s got some pig’s feet in it, too. Danny really liked it.”
“Let me just finish this,” Rosa said, adding a large can of hominy to the pot, all the time stirring the contents with a soup ladle. “Now just a little chili powder and we’re done.” The mixture turned a brownish red.
Nick took in a deep breath. “It smells great.”
“You’d better believe it,” Manny said. He picked up a bowl from a chrome legged dinette table and carried it to the stove.
“Rosa wants me to test this. Then we’ll talk.”
His wife dipped the soup ladle into the pot and poured the steaming mixture into Manny’s bowl.
He settled himself at the table. As if performing a ritual, Manny spooned in some chopped onion from a small bowl and reached into another little bowl with his fingers to sprinkle some of its contents into the soup. He looked up at them. “A pinch of cilantro.”
Then he picked up a sliced lemon wedge, squeezed the juice into the soup, and reached for a stack of tortillas. He peeled off one and rubbed it with the squeezed lemon. Then he filled his spoon from a small serving bowl of red, thick sauce, smeared it on the tortilla, and rolled it before dipping it into the menudo.
“Here we go,” he said and took a bite of the soup-soaked tortilla. He sat back and gave Rosa a satisfied smile. “As always, the best!”
Want to see menudo made? Click here
Actually, tripe is served in various forms around the world. But as a tripe soup, it's called Menudo in Mexico, Sopi Mondogo in the Caribbean and Mondongo Tripe in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, and Ranga Blanca en Caldo or Colorada in Bolivia. Also popular in Europe, it is known as Callos a la madrileña in Spain, Soupa Patsas in Greece, Busecca in Italy, Flaczki in Poland, İşkembe çorbası in Turkey, and Ciorbă de burtă in Romania, etc. Variations of tripe in soup or stew exist in Asia as well, and here in the United States, it is known as Philadelphia Pepper Pot Soup (Campbell's Pepper Pot Soup main ingredient was tripe).
Back to Herb's Website
