I tried tripe once. I had an Asian friend and his mom asked me to stay for dinner. They had a bunch of saucy meat in rice, and most of it was good except this one thing I was eating. It was like trying to chew through rubber. After a while I asked my friend what that piece was. He told me it was tripe. I had never heard that word before so asked what it was, and he said "uh I think it's like cow guts". I almost puked right there at the table, but managed to hold it in until I made it to their washroom.
I believe it's a minor ingredient in Scotch Broth as well. My grandmother made it when I was a wee duck - fairly light soup with little bits of this and that in it. The rubbery bits were - I learned later - tripe.
I had to look it up again as I couldn't remember if it was stomach lining or pancreas (it's the former). I'd do the soup again, but wouldn't search in out.
