It has been out of favour for years but, thanks to Gordon Ramsay, tripe is making a comeback.

The Michelin-starred chef featured the 'delicacy' on his Channel 4 show The F Word last week and now supermarkets are being besieged by shoppers demanding it.

Sales of tripe - made from the stomachs of sheep, pigs or cows - have risen by more than 400 per cent over the past ten days as families give it a try.

David Gray, from Oakwood Foods, a national supplier of catering offal, said that demand had rocketed since Ramsay showed how to cook tripe.

"Gordon Ramsay is a very skilful chef and markets himself extremely well," he added.

"Because of this, anything he touches suddenly becomes trendy and in vogue.

"That he is helping to reinvent certain foodstuffs - like tripe which was once seen as good, honest poor man's grub of yesteryear - is excellent and very commendable.

"Tripe is exceedingly tasty as well as being wholesome and filling.

"The only downside is that, a bit like kippers, it is rather smelly and after being cooked, can stink the whole house out.

"Aside from this, tripe contains virtually no fat and is very nutritious so I'm not surprised that, with Gordon's backing, there has been such a huge upsurge in sales."

As well as being low in saturated fat, tripe contains useful levels of vitamin C and, especially when stewed in milk, is an excellent source of calcium.

Many of the major supermarkets stock tripe only in dog food form, but a spokesman for Tesco said it would consider reintroducing it to stores if demand continues.

In last week's show, Ramsay cooked tripe with onions, lemon and parsley.

The dish was served to unsuspecting locals in a small Yorkshire village who wolfed it down.