A Marseille and Provençal specialty whose name means literally "feet and packets." Squares of lamb tripe are spread with a stuffing of diced salt pork, garlic, and parsley, then folded and tied into small parcels — the paquets — and braised for many hours together with split lamb's trotters, the pieds, in a sauce of white wine and tomato seasoned with onion and herbs. The very long, gentle braise turns the tripe and trotters silky and gelatinous and thickens the sauce on its own. It is served hot, the parcels and feet portioned out together, classically with boiled or steamed potatoes.
A traditional dish of Marseille and the wider Provence. The recipe is generally credited to a cook named Louis Ginouvès in the La Pomme district of Marseille in the 1880s, and it appears in print in cookbooks by 1888; the literal name means "feet and packets," for the trotters and the tied parcels of tripe. Both Marseille and the town of Sisteron claim it as their own, and two forms are recognised: the small Marseille parcels, made with lamb's trotters, and the larger Sisteronnaise version, weighing over 100 grams each and made with sheep's trotters. Like much offal cookery it grew from the thrift of using the whole animal — the cheap, abundant feet and stomach of the flocks — and has been passed down in Provençal families since the 19th century.
Long braising leaves the tripe and trotters soft, gelatinous, and yielding, almost melting on the tongue, with the trotters giving up their connective tissue as sticky, lip-coating richness. Cut open a parcel and the stuffing inside is savoury with salt pork, garlic, and parsley, the tripe having taken on the tomato-and-wine sauce around it. The sauce itself is thick, glossy, and faintly tangy. Done properly the texture is silky and unctuous; undercooked, the tripe stays rubbery and chewy and the trotters tough — the dish lives or dies on the length of the braise.
Tripe and trotters are both dense in connective tissue and collagen, which is tough and rubbery when raw or briefly cooked. The defining technique is a very long, gentle braise — commonly 7 hours and often far longer — at a bare simmer in the wine-and-tomato liquid: the sustained low heat hydrolyses the collagen into gelatin, which is what gives the meltingly soft, unctuous mouthfeel and dissolves back into the sauce to thicken it naturally and make it sticky. The parcels are tied tightly with string precisely so the stuffing of salt pork, garlic, and parsley stays sealed inside through the hours of cooking rather than leaching away. The acidity of the white wine and the tomato also helps break down the tough tissue and balances the richness of the offal and pork fat.
Variations
Two named forms are recognised: pieds et paquets à la marseillaise, the small Marseille parcels made with lamb's trotters, and the Sisteronnaise version from the town of Sisteron, with larger parcels weighing over 100 grams each and made with sheep's trotters; the smallest Marseille parcels, around 40 grams, are sometimes called bijoux ("jewels"). The tripe may be of lamb or mutton. Seasonings vary by cook — many add carrot, thyme, bay, and cloves to the braise, and some a strip of orange peel. It is most often served with boiled or steamed potatoes, and ready-made canned and jarred versions are widely sold across Provence.
On the Palate
Where Pieds et Paquets sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 45 min
- 125 min
Clean the lamb tripe thoroughly and blanch it in boiling water, then drain, rinse, and cut it into squares of roughly 12 to 15 cm.
- 215 min
Split the lamb's trotters lengthwise, blanch them as well, and scrape and rinse them clean.
- 310 min
Mix the diced salt pork with chopped garlic and parsley and season with pepper to make the stuffing.
- 425 min
Place a spoon of stuffing on each tripe square, fold the sides over to enclose it, and tie each into a tight little parcel with kitchen string.
Watch outTie each parcel tight with string — a loose tie lets the salt-pork-and-garlic stuffing leak out over the long braise.
- 515 min
In a heavy pot soften the chopped onion, then layer in the parcels and trotters, pour over the white wine and chopped tomatoes, and add carrot, thyme, bay, and cloves.
- 6450 min
Add water or stock to barely cover, bring to a bare simmer, cover tightly, and braise very gently for at least 7 hours, topping up the liquid as needed.
Watch outHold it at a bare simmer for at least 7 hours — only sustained gentle heat hydrolyzes the tough tripe and trotter collagen into that meltingly soft, sticky body; a boil toughens them.
- 720 min
Check that the tripe and trotters are meltingly tender, adjust the seasoning, and let the sauce reduce to a thick, glossy consistency.
- 810 min
Snip the strings, portion the parcels and feet together, and serve hot with boiled or steamed potatoes.
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