Kuttle Soup From Tessin

Tessin (Ticino, in Italian) is the southernmost Swiss canton, where the food leans toward Italian-Alpine peasant cooking. Kuttle soup is one of the region’s defining winter dishes: beef tripe, root vegetables, smoky bacon, red wine, and broth, all simmered together until thick and deeply flavored.

If you’re new to tripe, this is a friendly starting point. The honeycomb cut takes well to long, gentle cooking, and the wine, garlic, bacon, and parmesan all keep the flavor on the savory-rich side rather than the offal-funky side that scares people off.

Cutting everything into thin, even strips is the technique that matters. The strips of carrot, leek, celeriac, cabbage, and tripe all match each other in size, which means they cook in step and finish at the same texture.

Caraway seeds and parsley go in only at the end. Caraway loses its character if it boils too long, and fresh parsley needs to stay bright green. Stir them in at the last minute, not at the start.

Finish with a generous shower of grated parmesan. It melts into the broth and ties everything together.

Chef Tips

• Buy pre-cooked tripe if you can. It’s available at most Italian and Mexican butchers and saves you a 4-hour pre-simmer of raw tripe.
• Celeriac (celery root) is essential to the Alpine flavor. Don’t substitute regular celery; the earthy, anise-leaning sweetness is different.
• Use a dry, earthy red wine. A Merlot from Ticino itself is the most authentic choice, but any dry red works.
• Serve with crusty country bread to mop up the broth. The dish was designed to be eaten this way.

Variations

• Add a peeled, diced potato with the vegetables for a heartier, more filling version.
• Stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste with the wine for deeper color and umami.
• Skip the bacon and use pancetta for a more Italian-leaning, less smoky flavor.