Tripe (špek-fileki) in Mlinarica

Fileki, tripice, vampi, škembići – these are all names for tripe, a well-known delicacy in Croatia.

At the mere mention of tripe, some people’s mouths start drooling, while others can’t even imagine eating anything like it. Why do some people cannot stand tripe? Well, we don’t know that either. Maybe some people dislike it because it is made from a cow’s stomach, or maybe they don’t like the specific smell of it during cooking. Perhaps the texture of the tripe is not to their liking, or they have just never eaten good tripe? If we think more about it, the reasons why people are suspicious of tripe are many.

The most common reason people reject tripe and feel disgusted by it is because of its smell. However, most people are in such cases unaware that they are most likely eating tripe that hasn’t been cooked well and that this is what probably causes its repellent smell.

Let’s be honest, the smell of tripe while cooking is strong and very specific, even a bit unpleasant, and it is difficult to think of any similar smell. But if you ever come across a tripe that continues to smell strong and unpleasant even after cooking, chances are that it was undercooked or not cleaned properly. In that case, be aware that it’s not your fault if you don’t like tripe. Instead, it’s the fault of the chef who didn’t prepare it well, or perhaps you simply chose the wrong butcher.

Many people have told us that while they found the tripe soup good and tasty, they didn’t like the texture of the tripe itself. This is yet another reason why people think that tripe is not for them.
We can’t think of eating undercooked tripe!

In Mlinarica, we make the tripe by cooking it the day before together with vegetables (tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, parsley – altogether better known as grincek). Once the tripe is cooked, we cut it into strips, put it in a bowl, and leave it in the fridge for about 18 hours (sometimes we also shock it with cold water).

Leaving the tripe in the fridge for so long will “air” them out a little more. After that, you are sure that they will be free of any undesirable odors. Of course, the way in which the tripe is cooked is still important for it to get soft.

After the tripe has finished resting in the fridge, we start the second phase, namely the preparation for cooking. First of all, put the onions and bacon, previously cut into strips, to be stewed. After the onions and bacon are stewed, add the other root vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery), which you have also previously sliced into cubes. Straight after the vegetables, we also put the tripe to stew.

During the stewing, we add the stock and spices. The cooking time takes 1.30 to 1.45 hours (depending on the tripe).

In case you don’t have time or don’t feel like preparing the špek-fileki yourself, you can easily find them every Thursday in Mlinarica.