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My family is from the Ocotlan area and Los Altos de Jalisco, and among us the favorite is menudo, which as you know is beef tripe (panza) stew. Although we don't have it that often, menudo can be eaten with a heck of a lot more than just panza. Once when I was in Ocotlan, Jalisco, at my dad's cousin's house, I got served menudo con bofe, which are, I believe, lungs, pancreas, and spleen (also known as sweetbreads). And I know what you're probably thinking...YUM YUM! Sound's rather raunchy if you ask me, but I had it anyway, and it wasn't half bad. With lots of oregano, onions, cilantro, lemon, crushed chile, and tortillas, it tasted just like regular menudo, only the "meat" had a different texture and was much softer than panza. All this stuff, and menudo in general, is the cure for what ails you and can cure hanovers.
I have never heard of putting pata de res in anything, much less menudo. It is by far more common to have it with pata de puerco, or even tendon, which is basically still pig's feet but without the hoof. I have had it like that here at home. My mom makes it like that sometimes, and it is quite good. So by having it this way, you are essentially mixing meats, beef tripe with pig's feet. Oh, and traditionally in Los Altos, menudo is not supposed to have any granos, or hominy, at all. But of course, this is not universal.
Some people, however prefer a stew called pozole. My mom is one of these people and delights in making pozole. It is made with espinazo de puerco, cuts of pork, lots of hominy, and sometimes oreja and cabeza de puerco. I had the best plate of pozole in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco. They serve it with a thick, red chile, broth, kind of like menudo. Then it is garnished with chopped onions, cabbage, crushed chile, and lemon. When I was in Mexico, they offered me sour oranges, a type of orange with bumpy skin and sour like a lemon, but with a taste of orange. It was quite good. As far as I know, the tradition is that you eat pozole with tostadas, NOT WITH TORTILLAS. Only menudo is eaten with tortillas, and that is because it is not supposed to have corn hominy. But since pozole already has hominy, you are not supposed to eat it with corn tortillas.
So to recap, its OK to mix beef and pork in one soup but not OK to eat corn hominy and corn tortillas together. Go figure traditions. Who made this stuff up anyway??
I hope you liked these little anecdotes about menudo and pozole, and the funny traditions that bind them.
Regards,
Steven Francisco Hernandez Lopez
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