Isn't it strange that the world is full of great male chefs who dictate the dogma but when you start asking around "who has inspired your cooking?", it is mostly women who are mentioned. And I am the same, I have a row of women who have influenced and inspired me throughout my life when it comes to food. One of them is Edda, the mother of a former Italian boyfriend. I spoke very little Italian in those days but she had an infinite patience (like most Italians when it comes someone to trying to speak their language) and we did communicate very well anyway.
I used to hang out in her kitchen and ask her lots of questions and she was happy to answer, I think she liked it because she had three sons and none of them cared about cooking whereas to her it was almost like ritual I think; she had a way of almost caressing things and that applied to food as well. And I sat there with my notebook and wrote down recipes and ideas that I took back with me to Sweden and my student corridor where my co-habitants happily received the new ways to prepare pasta or vegetables. In those days I was a vegetarian so Edda often prepared special dishes for me at dinner and lunch, one of them was this, trippa falsa or false tripe.
The thin egg strips actually look like tripe but don't let that scare you, there's not a trace of it in the dish. I still haven't managed to learn to eat tripe but I do cook it for Marco nowadays, this 'tripe' I do eat though and I know we are many who loves the combination egg and tomatoes so this is just another variation to the theme. The only change I have made to Edda's recipe is to use cherry tomatoes and adding thyme.
FALSE TRIPE OR OMELETTE STRIPS IN TOMATO AND THYME SAUCE
1 egg/person
10-15 cherry tomatoes/person
fresh thyme
1 small pinch cayenne pepper, optional
salt
extra-virgin olive oil
- Start cooking the tomatoes in a small pan over low heat, when they have softened a little, press them down with a spatula so they release some of their juices, add salt, cayenne pepper and thyme and go on cooking until you have a nice tomato sauce.
- While the sauce-to-be simmers, whisk eggs in a small bowl, add a little salt and then pour it all into a small non-stick pan and swirl it until you have a thin omelette.
- Fry it on both sides and then cut the omelette into this trips that you add to the tomato sauce before serving.
- While the sauce-to-be simmers, whisk eggs in a small bowl, add a little salt and then pour it all into a small non-stick pan and swirl it until you have a thin omelette.
- Fry it on both sides and then cut the omelette into this trips that you add to the tomato sauce before serving.
All photos and original text copyright: Ilva Beretta 2005-2011. If you re-post a recipe, please give credit and link to recipe on this site. About photos, please contact me. (luculliandelights AT gmail DOT com)
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