Callos ala Corazon

My mom just got back from a 9 month "vacation" in New Zealand and discovered the wonder of the world wide web there. She is incessant on Yahoo Messenger, on email and simply staying online and in touch.

Do you remember all that comfort food your mother used to make? This is one of them.

A lot of people are going to tell you that authentic callos calls for day long simmering of tripe and an endless process of scrubbing and cleaning until the "off" smell is gone. Truth be told, why eat callos if even just a trace of that off smell or tripe smell is gone? It will pretty much be like cooking a piece of leather.

That's why if the tripe smells bad at the outset, dont even use it. Go somewhere that cleans the tripe before serving. Normally a US Tripe or Australian would be clean otherwise, please smell it before you buy it. Monterey is generally reliable.

One conversation I had with my mom, she recounted how Juan of Reina Castilla restaurant had taught her his version of Callos Madrileno. It is a country dish and uses simple country ingredients. Even if he was from Barcelona, he had been a chef for different restaurants in Madrid. I managed to squeeze the recipe out of her so here goes:

Me: i am not going anywhere mom, just here
Mom: pata ng baka maybe just one then (pressure cook for 25 minutes)
Me: 1 kilo of goto for us (Pressure cook for just 20 minutes)
Mom: boil separately
Mom: throw boil water of the goto
Mom: dont make it too soft
Mom: soup of the pata you can save
Mom: sautee onions, garlic no tomato (I add tomato and a spoonful of paprika)
Mom: add one cup tomato sauce one cup tomato paste (let the simmer with the aromatics
Mom: add the goto then pata then potatoes (cut them into bite sizes using scissors)
Me: put chorizo and bell peppers and onion leeks (slice chorizo into coins)
Mom: dont forget to put vinegar while sauteeing the goto and pata, about one serving spoonful about 1/2 cup
Me: tabasco
Mom: salt and pepper
Mom: use canned bell peppers so it wil be soft
Mom: finally add the stock
Mom: add garbanzos - canned remove the skins put these last
Mom: as it simmers and the oil starts separating from the mixture, its good to go
Me: splash of liquor to soften it - wine or brandy to soften the flavor
Mom: No

1 kilo clean tripe
1 kilo Ox feet sliced
I cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 large onion chopped fine about 1/2 cup
4 small tomatoes chopped fine about 1/2 cup
I bunch of large onion leeks cut into two inch lengths
1 medium red bell pepper baby's fist size
1 small pack tomato paste
1 small pack tomato sauce
1 chorizo (El Rey, Alba, or Rustan's chorizo pamplona)
1 small can garbanzos
1/2 cup cane vinegar
1 tsp spanish paprika mild
Salt and Pepper to taste

I tried this the other day and couldn't find any ox trotters so ended up with pig's trotters. It does work just as well but it can only be as good as the ingredients you use. Don't overboil the pork trotters. Try the chorizo el rey, in its absence, go to any Alba's restaurant, in Makati or Tomas Morato and buy the chorizo there by piece.

I swear by this,