TRIPE, once favoured as a cheap and nutritious meal, is making a surprise comeback. The dish is made from the lining of a cow or sheep's stomach.

At the height of its popularity in the late 1800s, there were around 260 shops specialising in the edible offal across Greater Manchester - offal usually meaning everything inside the animal apart from muscle and bone.

The Tripe and Sandwich Shop, in Stalybridge, is believed to be the only tripe shop left in the region but sales are picking up.

Stephen Baxter, 52, who runs the shop with his wife Karen, said: "Since my wife and I took over the shop 20 years ago, the amount of tripe we've sold has undoubtedly dipped as older members of the community have passed away.

"Around 20 years ago, we would be selling around 100lbs of tripe each day while today we sell around a quarter of that.

"But there has certainly been a resurgence in interest over the past couple of years - and we are selling more now than we were doing.

"We seem to be getting a lot of people coming into the shop who are convalescing and are advised to get tripe by their doctors.

"I think it is quite sad that we are the last tripe shop in Manchester - although there are several butchers working in market halls who also sell tripe." Mr Baxter charges £5.20 per kilo of tripe - as well as selling a large selection of sandwiches, cakes and snacks.

The English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) - which promotes the interests of farmers - said that they have observed a steady increase in the national sales of tripe over the past three years. EBLEX is currently working with celebrity chef Sophie Gregson to accelerate this `offal renaissance'.

She said: "Tripe is nutritious, delicious and totally affordable - it is also versatile and offers an exciting variation for midweek meals.

"In fact I would go as far as to say that tripe is one of the great neglected delicacies."

Tripe is the stomach of a cow, pig, sheep or ox.

Tripe is usually sold specially prepared or cleaned for cooking.

It is high in protein and low in fat.

Depending on which animal it comes from, it will have a different appearance - honeycomb tripe is reckoned by some to be the best for cooking.

Tripe is eaten in many parts of the world.

A popular way of cooking it in the UK is with onions but tripe dishes include: haggis - which is a traditional Scottish dish made of a sheep's stomach and Andouillette - which is a French grilling sausage which features pork or beef tripe.

Quality tripe is rumoured to boost the libido.