September 16th marks the 201st year of Mexico’s Independence, and throughout the country there will be parades and fireworks and feasts. Surely Mexico got it right when they picked their flag colors - red, green and white! Who couldn’t make a great meal based on foods of those colors? Chiles en nogada (see recipe in August Huatulco Eye), red, white and green rice, moles in a rainbow of colors and flavours, tamales with a variety of fillings….all of these are celebratory foods, the ones that are family favorites and cultural classics. When I asked Alfredo Patino (Eye publisher) what he would be eating on September 16th, there was no hesitation, “pozole!”
Pozole, a fragrant, thick soup/stew, has many variations, mostly regional…but whether you are eating green (Guerrero) or red (Jalisco or Michoacan) or white (Guadalajara) pozole, or pozole made with chicken or seafood (Veracruz), or most often, pork, it is almost always advertised as RICO POZOLE. Eating pozole is so celebratory, and so popular, that in many places throughout Mexico, certain days are designated pozole days. In Zihuatenejo, Guerrero, Thursdays are celebrated pozole day, with a whole street of restaurants called Pozole Alley featuring steaming cauldrons of the stuff. Here in Huatulco Saturday seems to be pozole day, with lots of local holes-in-the wall hanging out their Rico Pozole sign; a few restaurants have it on the menu all the time (Casa de Naranja, Los Gallos).
So what is the deal with pozole anyhow? Well, in the beginning there was corn. “Since corn was a sacred plant for the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Mesoamerica, pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole Pozole, a Nahuatl word that means “foamy” is the name for dried kernels of corn which have been treated with cal, an alkaline solution, which denatures the germ and so makes for long storage periods without fear of sprouting. The cal also slightly changes the taste of the corn, which is the distinctive taste of pozole.
Pozole is available to the cook in a few different ways. Dried is the very conventional way, and in many villages is found at the local tortilleria. Pozole cooked with the dry corn, often nixtamalized (the cal process) by the home cook, will definitely be an all day affair. But pozole is also available processed, peeled and pre-cooked as a convenience ingredient. It is found in the refrigerated dairy case of Mexican supermarkets in a plastic pillow pack. I had a package of just this convenience pozole in my hand the other day in the grocery store when a friend passed by and said, “If you are going to make pozole, you have to go the whole way. You have to get the head of a pig.” I know, I know. But although I have eaten pozole with the head of a pig in the pot, and although I love the cheeks, and it is definitely the authentic way to do it, it is quite a different thing to start from scratch myself. The trotters are quite another thing, however, and I don’t find them so difficult, having grown up in a half Ukrainian household. We used them, pig’s feet and hocks, to make headcheese (minus the head). In my gringa opinion, for a rich tasting pozole, pork shoulder, augmented with a few trotters, is sufficient.
Besides its tradition as a celebratory meal, pozole really just makes sense for a big fiesta. A huge vat of the stew can be cooked on an outdoor fire, stoked and stirred lovingly, often through the night, to feed a big family or a village. It is relatively inexpensive, and can be held indefinitely, served hot or room temperature, and is just plain delicious.
One of the marvellous things about pozole is that it is the ultimate “custom” foods. There is a joke that goes,”!Ah, que Mexicanos estos, le ponen la ensalada a la sopa!” “Ah, those Mexicans! They put salad in the soup.” This is quite literally how you eat pozole. A tray of toppings accompanies the steaming bowl of pozole, and you dress your stew according to your individual taste. Shredded cabbage or crispy iceberg lettuce add a little sweetness, crisp red radishes sliced thinly add a peppery bite, chopped onions give an aromatic edge, wedges of lime squeezed into the broth brighten the taste and balance the sweetness of the pork and the corn, toasted dried Mexican oregano imparts a great earthy depth, and of course toasted chiles stirred into the caldo heat it up.
One of my favourite Jalisco pozole joints also offers platters of pickled pig’s feet and onions (patitas escabeche) with crisp tostadas and jalapeno rajas alongside its pozole. Rico, muy rico. By the way, pozole and all the accoutrements are known as fantastic hangover cures. Pozole is also delicious when accompanied with sipping tequila or mescal. (Tequila before, during, after…)
