Tablier Du Sapeur

* Note: Tripe is the stomach of a ruminant -- any cud-chewing hoofed animal with an even number of toes and a multi-chambered stomach. In this country, that almost always means a cow, but you will sometimes see lamb tripe and veal tripe at specialty butchers. If you can find the whole stomach, use that instead of the honeycomb.

Rinse the tripe, place it in a large saucepan and cover it with water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Immediately remove the tripe from the water and rinse it under cold water. Remove any large chunks of fat.

Return the tripe to the saucepan, cover generously with more cold water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, the onion, carrot, celery, leek, bay leaves, thyme and black peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and cook very slowly until tender, about 3 1/2 hours. Cover and refrigerate in the cooking broth until cool.

Drain the tripe and cut it into 4-inch triangles. Combine the wine and the mustard and coat both sides of each piece of tripe with the mixture. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Before serving, remove the tripe from the marinade and remove any excess marinade.

Beat the eggs with 2 tablespoons of water and a dash of salt. Mound the bread crumbs in a shallow container. Dip each triangle in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs, pressing both sides to make sure the tripe is heavily coated with a firm breading. Set aside.

Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until quite hot. Add the tripe and cook about 4 to 5 minutes a side until well-browned. Drain on paper towels. This may need to be done in 2 or 3 batches. Add more oil as needed. Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce, or a sauce gribiche.

This recipe yields 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 8 servings: 299 calories ; 640 mg sodium; 166 mg cholesterol; 14 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 21 grams protein; 0.77 gram fiber.