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Original poster

Kids these days will never know the glory of the tripe stall

169 replies

Tben · 14/07/2026 00:13

When I was growing up in the 1980s, I used to go shopping in the town centre with my Gran every Saturday. Amongst our many ports of call, we’d always go to the tripe stall on the fish and meat market to get some tripe for my Grandad.

A whole stall devoted to selling the stomach lining of a cow.

Kids these days will never know of such things. Tripe
is gone, never to come back. I was there, at the end, as it passed into history.

I hated it myself of course - the look, the smell, just… no.

OP posts:
VincaBlue · 14/07/2026 21:51

My grandpa liked tripe. I remember being served tongue sandwiches at his house too. I think they were nice. I'd love to have one of his sandwich teas now

Thechaseison71 · 14/07/2026 21:51

Hmm I wonder if it's regional. I e never seen a tripe stall in my life and I'm 55

Coco852 · 14/07/2026 21:49

My gran used to cook this and I happily ate it not knowing what it was 😅🙈

Livpool · 14/07/2026 21:48

I am 46 and never been to one 🤮

climbintheback · 14/07/2026 21:44

Lancashire was full of them we had a tripe shed next to the co-op

ClawsandEffect · 14/07/2026 21:44

I tried tripe in Spain. Wouldn't say I loved it, but didn't hate it either. Whereas I hated black pudding in Spain, just like in the UK. I liked my mum's liver and onions but she was a good cook. I've never eaten it since then. Always hated kidneys. The way they skidded off the teeth 🤮🤮. I LOVE haggis though, which has a lot of offal in it.

Nottinghillrose · 14/07/2026 21:37

This brings back memories of my grandad sat at the table in the front room, eating tripe covered in pepper and vinegar. Pencil stuck behind his ear ready to mark his pools coupon on a Saturday night.

CaptainMyCaptain · 14/07/2026 21:36

60andcounting · 14/07/2026 20:17

I think that would be heart. I've never had liver with tubes.
I love heart..

Show quote history

Some liver has veins in that look like small tubes.

bowchicawowwow · 14/07/2026 21:23

I feed my dogs green tripe. There’s a very distinct smell to it and I have no urge to eat it myself but the dogs inhale the stuff like it’s a delicacy.

Went to Newcastle earlier this year and wandered round an indoor market that was a bit like going back to the 80’s. Saw an old fashioned butchers with pigs heads lined up in an outdoor chiller cabinet for £5 each. DD was a bit surprised to see them. I half expected to see a scoop and save shop too.

MickMacMike · 14/07/2026 20:53

Keith Floyd has a recipe in his French book for calf's ears in kidney sauce. (not got round to that one yet)
Oxtail used to be a cheap meal but not now.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 14/07/2026 20:35

Tesco sells haslet. I used to think it smelled lovely when I worked on the deli as a teen but I was suspicious about what was in it!

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 14/07/2026 20:33

GarlicEverywhere · 14/07/2026 02:06

It does!

I like haslet. And blood pudding. I like tripe, kidneys and liver, too, when cooked properly - something I often manage myself, but not always.

I only recently realised that butchers no longer have chunks of animal on display, only the pre-cut pieces. This must have changed years ago - but now I feel driven to visit a meat market in Turkey or somewhere, where the produce is recognisably dead animals 😳

Show quote history

Out local butcher still has a row of carcasses hanging on the back wall.

I used to have to wait outside because the weird 'fridge meat' smell use to make me feel ill as a child.

That and the mound of tripe 😂 (which I'm sure they still sell, I just avoid looking at it)

faithfultoGeorgeMichael · 14/07/2026 20:33

All those saying you don’t eat tripe etc, I’d speak cautiously if you eat sausages 🤣🤣

Nat6999 · 14/07/2026 20:32

60andcounting · 14/07/2026 20:15

Do they still sell it on Sheffield market?
What day is the market on?

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Yes they sell it in the indoor market on the Moor which is open Monday to Saturday, I think it's from Anthony Andrews stall, Morrisons sell it but it's nowhere near as good.

WhitstablePearl · 14/07/2026 20:27

MissFancyDay · 14/07/2026 01:00

We didn't have tripe as a child but we had a lot of haslet. Does that still exist?

Show quote history

Yes to Haslet . Where in the country are you? I have only ever seen it in East Anglia.

AnyDayNowChuckJacksonNSoul · 14/07/2026 20:20

NoWordForFluffy · 14/07/2026 20:14

Bleurgh! 🤢

Show quote history

That post was abhorrent
Mum in a gas mask,big boiler that's the makings of a horror film.
With you on the 🤮

bugalugs45 · 14/07/2026 20:17

I feed tripe to my dog , he’s completely raw fed & I’ve week vegetarian for over 35 years !
I feed most things frozen as helps with the smell 🤢

60andcounting · 14/07/2026 20:17

MissFancyDay · 14/07/2026 01:30

Same here. I probably sound very ungrateful but memories of regularly having to sit at the table and eat up all my liver, a massive great chunk with pipes running through it, before I was allowed to get down, still traumatises me to this day 🤢

Show quote history

I think that would be heart. I've never had liver with tubes.
I love heart..

60andcounting · 14/07/2026 20:15

Nat6999 · 14/07/2026 00:55

Are you by any chance talking about Sheffield Market? My mum used to cook Tripe & Onions when I was a kid with a mountain of mashed potatoes, I was never keen on the mash but I loved the Tripe & Onions, I always had an enormous bowl full & always went back for seconds, the only downside was getting the saucepan clean afterwards as it always used to catch on the inside of the pan. I still eat it now if ds is shopping in the Market, he brings me a 5kg bag & I cut it up into pieces & freeze it in meal sized portions, happily now I cook it in my Ninja 11 in 1 which means I no longer have a saucepan that is only fit for the bin afterwards.

Do they still sell it on Sheffield market?
What day is the market on?

NoWordForFluffy · 14/07/2026 20:14

Nodirectionhome · 14/07/2026 14:44

From the 1970s into the 1990s my Mum used to show labradors and we usually had at least 3 of them. She used to buy whole cow's stomachs from the abbatoir and boil it in this big boiler in the garage. The smell was horrendous and Mum wore a mask, like a gas mask, for the whole process. You could smell it several streets away.
Once it was cooked she would dice it up and freeze it in bags in a big chest freezer.
Apparently it was great for the dogs, and very economical.🤢

Show quote history

Bleurgh! 🤢

soddingspiderseason · 14/07/2026 20:05

Or eels? Used to be sold live on metal tables in east end markets then someone would chop their heads off when they were sold. Traumatic childhood.

Error404FucksNotFound · 14/07/2026 20:04

my grandad loved tripe. He used to eat it covered in vinegar.
I was never brave enough to try it.

Lobsterteapot · 14/07/2026 20:04

Also remember several market stalls selling tripe - was it cooked? Just thinking if people ate it with salt and vinegar? What did it taste like?

We used to have “penny duck” which was offal mixed with breadcrumbs and sage - absolutely delicious!

60andcounting · 14/07/2026 20:04

Dariella · 14/07/2026 00:47

Tripe is still available in The English Market in Cork city in Ireland, OP.
Just in case you miss it too much 😉

I might make a trip there. I love tripe, with salt and vinegar. A good quality butcher told me they should have it but the abbatoir sells it to fancy London restaurants.

In Leicester indoor market there used to be several, that was 40 years ago.

soddingspiderseason · 14/07/2026 20:03

Has anyone mentioned pigs trotters yet? Nom nom. Or a whole pigs head being roasted? Terrifying to see as a child. Not that keen as an adult for that matter.

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