Aztec Pozole!
Pozole is one of the most famous recipes of them all. Nearly every Mexican restaurant has pozole on the menu. Just about every Mexican, Mexican native and almost every home cook in the southwest knows how to cook pozole. Pozole is classic Aztec comida! Outside of the southwest and Mexico region, folks with chile pepper knowledge run fewer and farther between. Just because a soup or stew has a red chile pepper color, it does not necessarily mean that the soup or stew is spicy hot. A very nice mixture of Mexican dried chile peppers gives pozole a unique robust hearty flavor. In fact, the chile pepper mixture is downright savory tasting! Chile pasilla is a dried chile chilaca. Pasilla has a unique earthy robust flavor with mild tobacco overtones. Pasilla is a mildly spicy chile. Chile puya is a long narrow chile that is mildly spicy and it has rich fruit flavor overtones. Both of these chiles give pozole its rich savory flavor. Chile arbole is a medium hot chile and it spices up the pozole. New Mexico chile adds a nice southwestern cuisine flavor. Chile ancho gives the pozole a mild raison flavor and a classic chile flavor. Guajillo chile is a favorite for making chile colorado sauce. Chile guajillo is a mild chile that has a nice savory classic Mexican chile pepper flavor. Put all the peppers together and you will have a very nice tasting pozole. Pozole has its origins in pre Aztec cuisine, but the Aztecs made this entree famous. Pozole is always made with lime treated corn that is called hominy. Just like with nixtamalization, hominy corn makes the corn nutrients easily available for digestion. The meat in the original Aztec pozole is what made pozole famous. Originally, pozole was a ritual food. Captive enemies of the Aztecs were sacrificed and their flesh was turned into pozole. Everybody in the ritual ate a small portion of the captive enemy flesh in a bowl of pozole. The Spanish explorers wrote about Aztec pozole and they mentioned how enemies of the Aztecs were sacrificed and eaten in some kind of a stew. After hogs were introduced to the Americas, the official meat for making pozole became pork. Pork tastes like human flesh, so the old Aztec recipe did not need to be modified, so it could be adapted to pork. Pozole can be made with any kind of meat or fish. There are vegetarian versions of pozole too. Pozole made from captive prisoners is not made very often these days, but the old Aztec pozole eating ritualistic beliefs still do exist. If a chef sais that their recipe is the original pozole recipe, just laugh and ask who did they cook! If the chef has no clue as to what in meant by the question, then the chef really does not know what pozole was all about. Ritualistic consumption of food made with enemies was a means of reading the spirit of the enemy and it gave insight into the workings of the enemy. So they say. Considering that Aztec medicine men had great visionary powers from mind altering substances, this could be true. Who knows! One thing is for sure, naive enemies of the Aztecs who planned to venture into Aztec territory probably heard these words from fellow tribal members. "So, you are planning to do a raid in Aztec territory? You really must have a thing for wanting to be the featured ingredient in pozole!" Pozole should have plenty of pork and hominy in the broth, just like what is shown in the pictures above. Pozole is usually served with a wide variety of garnishes. I tend to prefer pre-colombian garnished for pazole. Adding a few Spanish origin ingredients like garlic, cumin and coriander is okay, but those flavors should barely be tasted. Lime and sour cream are Spanish garnishes. Avocado is a classic complimentary garnish in Aztec cuisine and it almost always accompanies pozole. Roasted poblano and tomato are good classic Aztec garnishes too.
Pozole: This recipe makes 2 small portions or 1 large portion of pozole! Select a pork shoulder joint that has plenty of meat attached to the bone. The entire shoulder joint piece may weigh 2 pounds, but there may only be about 8 to 10 ounces of meat. Rub the pork shoulder section with: - sea salt - black pepper - 1 tablespoon of New Mexico chile powder - 1 teaspoon of onion powder - 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic Place the seasoned pork shoulder section in a large sauce pot. Add 1/2" of water to the pot. Slowly roast the pork shoulder in a 300º oven, till it becomes fully cooked. Remove the pot from the oven. Add enough water to cover the pork shoulder. (4 cups is enough.) Scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze any bits that are stuck. Add 1 pinch of Mexican oregano. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of ground chile pasilla. Add 1 seeded chile guajillo. Add 2 seeded chile puya. Add 1 teaspoon of ground chile ancho. Add 1 seeded chile arbol. Add 1/3 cup of chopped onion. Add 1 chopped green onion. Add 1/2 teaspoon of minced epazote. Place the pot over low heat. Simmer till the chiles become very soft and tender. (About 2 hours.) Add water as necessary. Remove the pot from the heat and let the ingredients cool. Remove the pork shoulder section from the pot and let it cool. Cut the meat off of the bones. Cut the pork meat into small cube shape bite size pieces and set the diced pork aside. Use an electric puree wand or a food processor to puree the ingredients in the pot. Return the pozole broth to a pot over low heat. Add the pork shoulder pieces. Add 1 1/3 cups of hominy corn. Adjust the salt and pepper seasoning. Simmer and reduce the broth, till the broth becomes very rich looking.
Presentation: Place the pozole in a deep soup bowl. Use a spoon to mound the hominy and pork on one side of the bowl. Garnish the pozole with thin avocado slices. Garnish the avocado with roasted red bell pepper strips. Garnish the pozole with a cilantro or Italian parsley sprig. Place the bowl of pozole on a serving plate. Garnish the plate with Mexican condiments of your choice. Roasted chile poblano, diced tomato and sliced green onion are good choices. Place a small ramekin of hot sauce on the plate. Serve with a stack of small steamed corn tortillas.
Honestly, pozole is one of the simplest yet greatest tasting traditional Mexican entrees that there is! Just close your eyes and pretend that you are eating your captured enemies, for that good old Aztec fine dining experience! Yum! ... Shawna
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