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Hi Steven,
Actually my dad has a lot
of hang ups about mixing things. Dairy products and meat, etc., I
attribute it to his Perez line which is suppose to be Sephardic. My mother
is not Perez, well wait a minute.... she is Gallo or Perez-Gallo, never
mind!! Maybe this is where it comes from. Their other reasoning for
not adding pig's feet is that it makes the broth very greasy. I have to
agree with them. I don't particularly like having greasy lips after eating
a meal. Ha ha. I'm guessing the the Beef feet must be a Jalos/San
Juan de los Lagos thing too. Menudo is often served with beef feet.
You'll have to visit! My folks have also said the same as you about hominy
in menudo, and tortillas not being eaten with pozole.
We also have pozole quite
regularly, but again it is very, very lean pork. Greasy broths are a
big no-no. I know that lemon is suppose to cut the grease, but it would
take a lot of lemon to cut the grease in menudo with patas de puerco. By
the way, my dad makes the leanest carnitas, laced with orange juice at the end
to cut any grease, again! I've only eaten better carnitas at a
restaurant on the Aguascaliente side of the Aguascalientes-Jalisco
border at a restaurant in Rincon de Romos owned by a Romo family of
course--distantly related to Santo Toribio Romo. There is a huge portrait
of Santo Toribio in the restaurant. The owner who my family knows most
definitely resembles Santo Toribio--it's those distinct Romo
eyes.
By the way, do you happen
to have Don Mariano Gonzales-Leal's address, either snail address or
email? I would only like to contribute to his future vol. set. I
vaguely remember you saying that you communicated with him often.
In appreciation of your
tidbits of info. It's very interesting to compare family customs and
traditions. I remember being shocked as a child when I saw enchiladas made
with ground beef. Enchiladas is another dish interesting to compare.
In Jalos/San Juan, they are made with papitas--new potatoes.
Yum-yum!!!
Take care,
Irma Gomez Gtz
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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