Pozole

Pozole is a well-known dish that is part of traditional Mexican cuisine; a reason why it can be enjoyed on national holidays and other important festivities of this nation.

Its preparation is simple; nonetheless, on multiple occasions it has been considered a hard-to-copy dish, so many countries have failed in having their own version.

In addition to its simplicity, it’s also a very nutritious dish, with a super nice flavor capable of surprising everyone who tries it.

As a matter of fact, this dish has been considered as one of the healthiest of Mexican gastronomy by the Mexican Institute of Social Security of Guerrero.

Nonetheless, one of its most important characteristics is that it has tradition and legend.

Its origin is considered emblematic and controversial, this is why we’ll talk a bit about its history before moving forward to the recipe itself.

Origin and history of the pozole

The word pozole which is in the name of the recipe we bring you today, comes from the Nahuatl language and it means foam.

This is due to the fact that when the corn grains open, the preparation takes on an appearance similar to foam.

Regarding the origin of this dish, it’s testified that there are references about its arrival to New Spain before the fall of Tenochtitlan.

It’s said that in the beginning, this preparation lacked acceptance due to the idea that the first Mexicas used to prepare this dish with the meat of the captive men that were going to be used as sacrifice during the festivities.

According to tradition, these captive men, after being sacrificed, were skinned and cut into pieces, because the Mexicas believed that eating human meat showed their devotion and religious principles.

Generally, the consumption of this meat used to be boiled and they added some large-sized corn grains called cacahuacintle.

This is how the pozole was born, a dish that is still commonly consumed in Mexico, and that has gained popularity throughout the American continent.

Nevertheless, as you must have hoped, this recipe has changed throughout the years, and nowadays it has stopped being used as a religious preparation and, of course, it does not contain human meat.

Among its principal variants we can find the use of pork, chicken and even beef. In Guerrero, for example it’s very common to find it using chicharrones as well as a green variant.

While in Nayarit, Sinaloa and Mexico City, the most common one is the red pozole.

Anyway, don’t despair, we’ll propose to you today a traditional preparation of pozole, and in further occasions we’ll bring you the green, red and white versions.

How to make pozole?

Although pozole is a simple recipe and easy to prepare, there are some people who prefer to get to know some tricks that will guarantee a more particular and personal flavor.

In this sense, remember if you want a dish with extra spice, you can add to in, among other ingredients, a little bit of crushed tree chili.

You should also know that to cut down cook time, you can make this dish in a pressure cooker.

The preparation is the same, but when the pot begins to whistle, lower the temperature and wait between 20 and 25 minutes.

 During that time, the meat should be soft and separated from the bone.