THE reason callos takes so long to cook is in the nature of the meat. Offals (or organ meats) are certainly not cousin to tenderloin, so they have to be tenderized by long slow cooking in order to soften the tissues and render them chewable. The worst kinds of callos are those which are short of cooked—tough and rubbery, like you’re chewing on a rubber band that will never be consumed. It simply means the cooking process was quickened. Another undesirable tripe would be the smelly kind—this means that the offal was not properly cleaned, scrubbed and boiled, or that the slaughter was messy.

This early, know that callos takes long to cook, yet there can be shortcuts which could work. But the stew will still take longer than if you were cooking an adobo or pan-frying a steak. Let’s get to know the cut of the meat better so that we’ll understand why.

Ox tripe is also known locally as goto; in a more prosaic fashion, as...err…twalya, or towel, because of its terrycloth texture. It is part of the stomach of a ruminant animal (those with chambered stomachs, like cows, oxen, sheep, etc.) and there are four types of tripe: the rumen, which is the thickest and is like a blanket; the reticulum, which has a honeycomb texture, thus its name; the psalterium, also known as the leaf or Bible tripe; and the abomasums, which is not usually used by cooks.

The butcher has to do a lot of tedious processing to deliver clean, white, pretenderized tripe. Tripe are soaked in lime, then in brine and then boiled, then cooled. When you’re buying tripe from the supermarkets, that cut would have gone through many hands to make it easier for you to use it.

Deep-down soul food

THE many hours of cooking tripe is the secret of a tasty dish. The benefits from tripe are the smooth beefy flavor and the sticky, rich broth it creates. And that, folks, is the essence of soul in food—deep-down flavor! Tripe’s soul flavor is what separates the good goto from the yagit goto which is heavily watered down. Good goto is sticky and thick and beefy. The same goes for callos.

When a host serves you callos, it means it took the whole time to prepare the dish or paid a good price for it. This is a dish one has to plan ahead and it is not something to think of cooking spur-of-the-moment to surprise the hubby. In other countries, tripe is likewise a valued offal. Normandy cooking of tripes is Tripes à la mode de Caen, while in England it is done with onions. American soul food with tripe is in a Hot Pepper Pot Soup, and in Lombardy it would be Busecca or Tripe Soup. Then, of course, the delicious Tripas a modo do Porto of Portuguese cuisine. A Turkish version of the Tripe Soup is Iskembe Corbasi, which is a sure-fire relief for hangover.

Craving for tripe? Here’s an easy way to make callos…and some tips, if space allows.

Easy callos

(From The Standard Appliance Cookbook)

1 small onion

some olive oil

1/2 kg precleaned, preboiled tripe

2-3 whole chorizo de bilbao, sliced diagonally

1/2 small can chickpeas or garbanzos

1/2 small can pimiento chopped or sliced in strips

2 pcs green finger chili

1 pack caldereta powder mix

Salt, pepper, to taste

Cover the tripe and bring to a boil with water and the onion and a little salt. Cook, covered till tender. Reserve the broth and onion.

When tender, cool and then slice tripe into thin and long pieces. Heat olive oil and sauté chorizo slices and tripe. Then add the caldereta mix and 2-3 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil and taste, adjust seasonings. Depending on the tenderness of the tripe, add more broth.

Add the garbanzos and pimiento and cook over low heat till very, very tender and the broth is sticky. Season again and add the chili.

Nancy’s Notes

Some people like very thick callos. But it’s okay to have a soupy callos so that as you reheat the dish, it gets better and better, more sticky as desired.

Buy tripe from the supermarkets as these have been cleaned well and ready to be slow-cooked.

The right taste of tripe should be a delicate beefiness or a hint of milk and butter, if properly done.

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THE reason callos takes so long to cook is in the nature of the meat. Offals (or organ meats) are certainly not cousin to tenderloin, so they have to be tenderized by long slow cooking in order to soften the tissues and render them chewable.

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