Pozole

Since this is my first entry, I suppose I should start with the first dish I learned how to cook.  Learning how to cook is truly a magical experience! In my opinion, it’s the one of the first steps into adulthood; there is something so independent about that special moment when you learn how to prepare something to nourish yourself. I still remember my mother, pulling an egg out of her refrigerator, taking out a pan and spatula, and showing me how to cook it on her olive green stove.  At eight years old, I felt so grown up and accomplished. 

Years later and after many eggs, my mother taught me how to cook my first complete dish- Pozole; it’s an incredibly easy dish and very delicious!

Photography by Linda Harrison, The Anthropological Chef blogspot.com ©

Pozole is a soup that hails from the lovely country of Mexico, specifically with Aztecan roots. It is a brothy soup usually composed of some type of meat protein (chicken or pork), and one of the most important crops for the Aztecs—Maize (Hominy). In short, Hominy is Maize that has gone through the nixtamalization process. Maize derives from Teosinte; a grass root that originated in Mexico that can directly attribute its genetic evolution to human selection.

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Early humans genetically altered the plant by selecting and breeding it to enhance certain characteristics about 10,000 years ago. They targeted color, taste, and kernel size.  Maize was then later spread out by early humans from Mexico into Central America and up into North America.  Maize has played an essential part in the physical nourishment of all early American cultures and has always been tied to their spiritual traditions.  For the Aztecs, maize (Cintli in Nahuatl – the Aztec language) was brought down to earth by Quetzalcoatl as a gift to humans. Every crop season they would hold a great celebration in honor of their maize deity; Centeotl or Chicomecoatl.  

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Maize was one of the Aztecan three sister crops, squash, beans and maize.  The three crops provided three basic nutritional needs, carbohydrates (Corn), Protein (Beans), Vitamins and essential oils (Squash). These crops were planted together in Chinampas (floating gardens), and were highly valued since they nourished the entire population. 

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The Aztecs used Maize in many different ways, but it all started with the nixtamalization process.  Nixtamalization starts by soaking the dried Maize kernels in lye or wood ash.  This process served a couple of purposes, it soften the kernels making them edible and more easily digestible and even more importantly it allow for the release of the full nutritional value of Maize, specifically niacin- the nixtamalization process allowed the large population of native Americans and Meso-Americans to be heavily dependent on maize for their daily nutritional needs. 

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Pozole was a festive dish. The Aztecs would boil hominy (Maize gone through the Niximalization process) in a soup, not too different from what it is now. However, instead of the contemporary usage of chicken or pork, the Aztecs originally used human flesh, from their human sacrifices.  Cannibalism and the Aztecs: the Aztecs practiced Cannibalism, however; it was solely done for spiritual purposes and only the elite of their society were allowed to partake in this tradition.  It was by no means a manner in which they nourished themselves on a daily basis.  Later on, when the Spaniards and Catholic monks arrived to colonize and convert the Aztecs, the human flesh was replaced with a different a protein, pork.  The Aztecs favored pork as a viable stead since they felt that it tasted most like human meat.  Bacon anyone?

Photograph courtesy of http://www.mexicolore.co.uk ©

Today, Pozole is a staple in Mexican cuisine with a few variations- most commonly; there is a red, white and green pozole. Pozole is typically served with diced onion, sliced cabbage, crushed dried oregano and some type of tostada, but I have also seen people use sliced avocado and even queso fresco. 

 Photographs courtesy of ©sdcitybeat.com and © www.caramellcatering.com 

Below is the recipe I learned as a child, with an additional step if you wish to use the more traditional dried chiles vs. the chili powder.   Buen approvecho!

Photography by Linda Harrison, The Anthropological Chef blogspot.com ©

Basic Pozole Recipe

·       2lbs of chicken or pork ( 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, if using bone-less, skinless chicken breast)

·       8 cups of water

·       2 bouillon cubes

·       Salt to taste

·       3 cans of hominy (15oz) rinse and drained.

·       6 garlic cloves smashed or finely chopped

·       5 dried California Anaheim Chiles or 3 tablespoons of dried chili powder (to taste)

Toppings:

·       ½ cup dried crushed oregano

·       1 chopped white onion

·       3 cups of shredded chopped cabbage

·       Radishes (slices)

·       Lime wedges

·       Tostadas (Baked or fried)

Additional step if using dried Anaheim Chiles:  Using a medium saucepan, boil dried whole chiles in enough water to submerse them, boil until rehydrated and soft.  Pull chiles out of saucepan and puree them in blender.  Place puree in wired sleeve to separate seeds from puree.  Hold puree in bowl until you are ready to use.

Boil 2lbs of your choice of protein in large pot with water, bouillon cubes, and garlic, add oil if using skinless chicken breast. Boil until protein is fully cooked; pull out of liquid (liquid is your stock, don’t dump out!!) and set aside to cool.

Drain and rinse hominy and place into the large pot with stock and return to cook on medium heat.

Add either puree or 3 tablespoons of dried chili powder to hominy and stock. Stir with Ladle to incorporate into broth.

Once protein is cool enough to handle, shred (debone, if necessary) cooked protein by hand.  Return to pot.

Continue to boil soup until hominy is tender approximately 30 minutes.

Taste soup; add more salt and/or chile to desired taste.

Serve hot with a pinch of dried oregano, one tablespoon of diced white onion, some shredded cabbage and a couple of lime wedges.

References:

Linda Civitello; “Cuisine & Culture, A History of Food and People”; 3^rd Edition, March 29^th, 2011

University of Utah- Learn Genetics “The Evolution of Corn”; www.learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/selection/corn/

Cronica.com.mx, “Los mexicanos prehispanicos comian pozole con carne humana”; http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2007/317065.html