Ciorbă de burtă

Method

Place the cleaned tripe and beef bones in a large pot with cold water and bring to a boil, then drain and rinse thoroughly to remove impurities. Return to the pot with fresh water and add the quartered onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves and peppercorns, then simmer for 2-2.5 hours until the tripe is very tender. In the final 30 minutes, sauté the minced garlic in a separate pan and stir in the tomato paste, then add this mixture to the soup along with salt to taste. Just before serving, stir in the vinegar or sour cream to give the soup its characteristic sour flavour, and finish with fresh dill and parsley. Serve piping hot with crusty bread.