Cover the whole with a kind of [galette] of paste, consisting of flour mixed with hot water and kept somewhat stiff, and fix the paste well on to the edges of the utensil.
Place in the oven, and, when about two hours have elapsed and the paste is well baked, close the utensil with its own cover.
In a regular and moderate oven, allow about ten hours for the cooking.
The Dishing and Serving.—After taking the tripe out of the oven, remove the cover of paste, the bones, the fat, the carrots, the onions, and the faggot, and by means of a slice withdraw the pieces of tripe and set them in the special earthenware bowls, taking care to distribute the pieces, coming from different portions of tripe, in such wise as to meet the demands or fancies of the various consumers.
When the tripe has been transferred to the bowls, clear the gravy of all grease, and dole it out evenly among the number of receptacles. It is best, now, to put the latter in a [bain-marie], for they must only be served quite hot, on chafers or otherwise.
N.B.—(1) To make the dish to perfection, the tripe should be put into special earthenware pots (wherein the heat is more effectively concentrated), and cooked in a baker’s or pastry-cook’s oven.
I dealt with the alternative of cooking tripe in a stewpan in order to make provision for those who can avail themselves of neither special pots nor a baker’s oven.
(2) The measures I prescribe, namely, those of first laying the slices of beef-fat upon the tripe, and then covering the whole with a lid of paste, are intended to stop a too rapid evaporation of the liquid—a contingency that must be guarded against, more particularly in a kitchen oven—and to preserve the whiteness of the tripe.
The cover of paste would be quite useless if a baker’s oven were available, for the latter not only ensures perfectly regular heat, but also wanes regularly.