Flaki

Ingredients

Tripe

• 1 kgbeef tripe, cleaned and blanched
• 1.5 litresbeef stock

Vegetables

• 1onion
• 2carrots
• 1parsnip
• ½celeriac
• 1leek
• 2bay leaves
• 6allspice berries

Thickening

• 2 tbspbutter
• 2 tbspplain flour

Seasoning

• 2 tspdried marjoram
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• ½ tspgrated nutmeg
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• more marjoram
• grated cheese
• bread

Directions

1. Rinse the tripe thoroughly, then boil it for 10 minutes in fresh water and drain it.
2. That first blanch takes off the strong smell that would otherwise carry right through the finished pot.
3. Cover the tripe with the beef stock and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, until completely tender.
4. Give it the full time. Tripe goes from rubbery to tender very late in the process and there is no hurrying it at all.
5. Add the whole vegetables, bay leaves and allspice for the last hour.
6. Lift out the tripe and cut it into fine strips about 5 mm wide.
7. Cut it thin. Wide pieces of tripe are unpleasant to eat and this is where most disappointing flaki go wrong.
8. Strain the broth and either discard the vegetables or dice them small and return them.
9. Make a roux with the butter and flour, cook it for 2 minutes without letting it colour, and whisk in a ladle of hot broth until completely smooth.
10. Stir the roux back into the pot and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken.
11. Add the tripe, marjoram, paprika and nutmeg, and season.
12. Marjoram is the herb that makes it Polish. It is not oregano and there is no substituting it here.
13. Serve very hot with more marjoram, grated cheese and bread.

Technique

• It is one of the oldest recorded Polish dishes, noted as a favourite of King Władysław Jagiełło, and it has been served in Warsaw milk bars ever since.
• Buy tripe already cleaned and blanched, which is how it is almost always sold now.
• It is better the next day, once the marjoram has settled through it.

Substitutions

• Veal tripe, which is more delicate and cooks faster.
• A good beef stock cube if you have no homemade stock, though it will show.

Variations

• With small meatballs added, as flaki z pulpetami.
• Made without the roux, for a clearer soup.
• With a spoonful of hot pepper paste stirred in.

History

A tripe soup, made from beef stomach lining simmered for hours with root vegetables and spiced with marjoram and often ginger, documented in Polish cooking for centuries as a way to use an organ meat requiring extensive cleaning and long cooking to become properly tender, reflecting a broader European tradition of using an entire slaughtered animal rather than only its choicest cuts. Its long, slow simmering, sometimes for the better part of a day, is treated as essential to achieving flaki’s proper soft texture, and Polish home cooks and restaurants alike often treat the soup as something to prepare a day in advance, since it is widely believed to improve in flavour when reheated after resting overnight. It remains a traditional, if increasingly less commonly homemade, dish across Poland.

Frequently asked questions

What is Flaki?

Flaki is a soup & stew from Poland: tripe strips simmered with marjoram and root vegetables in beef broth. A tripe soup, made from beef stomach lining simmered for hours with root vegetables and spiced with marjoram and often ginger, documented in Polish cooking for centuries as a way to use an organ meat requiring extensive cleaning and long cooking to become properly tender, reflecting a broader European tradition of using an entire slaughtered animal rather than only its choicest cuts. Its long, slow simmering, sometimes for the better part of a day, is treated as essential to achieving flaki’s proper soft texture, and Polish home cooks and restaurants alike often treat the soup as something to prepare a day in advance, since it is widely believed to improve in flavour when reheated after resting overnight. It remains a traditional, if increasingly less commonly homemade, dish across Poland.

How long does Flaki take to make?

Flaki takes 30 min of preparation and 4 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Flaki?

Yes, within limits. Veal tripe, which is more delicate and cooks faster. A good beef stock cube if you have no homemade stock, though it will show.

What is the most important thing to get right in Flaki?

That first blanch takes off the strong smell that would otherwise carry right through the finished pot.