Can't stomach tripe, you say (ahem, cough, cough)? I grew up with it and never liked it until I had it in Rome and Florence, and then the scales fell from my eyes. Closer to home, I find the tripe in local Chinese restaurants to be pretty good. But, like you, I haven't found
menudo very appealing, though I continue to order it once in a while and hold out hope.
How I make tripe that no one at my house will eat except me and the dog and in so doing follow the inspirational path of David Hammond:
Trippa alla Romana
2 lbs uncooked tripe
a yellow onion, diced
a couple carrots, diced
a couple ribs of celery with leaves, diced
1/4 C olive oil
fat from prosciutto or pancetta (optional)
1/2 C white wine (optional)
2-3 C of your favorite tomato sauce, with or without meat
good handful of mint, chopped
grated Pecorino Romano
Clean the tripe thoroughly under running cold water, removing any fat. In a 6-8 quart pot, cover the tripe with cold water and bring to a rolling boil. Dump it out, refill with cold water and reboil for 5 hours. When it's done, strain it, allow it to cool until you can handle it, and slice it into 1/2" strips.
When the tripe has an hour to go, start assembling the sauce: Add oil to a pot large enough to hold the sauce and tripe. Heat medium and saute vegetables until they start to color. Add pork fat if you like. Deglaze with wine if you like, and cook until the wine has mostly evaporated (the wine tends to amplify the "funk" of tripe, so perhaps omit this step until you have clarified your desire to "get down" with tripe). Add tomato sauce, cooked tripe, and simmer for 45 minutes or so. Serve with mint and grated pecorino.
To make the Florentine version, add a few cloves to the tripe boil (better yet, boil it in a meat stock), substitute "pomodori pelati" (pealed Italian tomatoes) for the tomato sauce, omit mint, add a generous couple tablespoons of butter to the final dish, and serve with Parmigiano Reggiano.