Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 8 hours

For 27 years, Reine Sammut, a Michelin-starred chef at La Fenière in Lourmarin, has been preparing offal with enthusiasm. Her love of these products dates back to her childhood in the Vosges when butchering a hog was a family affair. In Provence, she prepares tripe and trotters like a native Marseillaise, adapting the traditional recipe with a master's skill. "I serve it summer and winter, because I see no reason why even a braised dish can't be served more than just a few months a year. I like this rather rustic dish that brings in true food-lovers. For me, tripe is a truly gastronomic product. After eight hours of cooking, I serve the dish right in its casserole, gratinéed in the oven to give it an appetizing caramelized look."

A little history of tripe and trotters
Tripe and trotters, known as "pieds-paquets" in French, are a specialty of Provence (particularly Marseilles). They are sheep tripe stuffed with chopped ham, garlic and herbs, rolled into little packets and simmered for 6-7 hours in white wine and stock with sheep feet, bacon and tomatoes.

1. Peel two onions and slice thinly. Peel and slice the carrots.
2. In a heavy cocotte or Dutch oven, sauté the onion, carrot and smoked bacon in olive oil. Add the lamb's feet.
3. When everything is nicely sautéed, add the garlic, quartered tomatoes, onion pricked with the cloves, and the bird's eye chili.
4. Add the white wine. When it comes to a boil, add the packets, salt and pepper.
5. Add the thyme and bay leaf and enough water to reach to the top of the packets.
6. Cover and cook at 8 hours over low heat.
7. Remove the feet and packets and remove the metatarsus from the feet.
8. Half an hour before serving, place the feet and packets into an ovenproof dish.
9. Gratiné in a hot oven (210° C / 425° F).
10. Serve with new potatoes in their skins.