Nana's Mexican Pozole Rojo (Red) Recipe - The Foodie Affair (2024)

FAQs

What are the 3 types of pozole? ›

The three main types of pozole are blanco (white), verde (green) and rojo (red). Pozole blanco—"white pozole"—is the preparation without any additional green or red sauce.

The main ingredient in Pozole is Hominy, which is made from corn. Due to the belief that humans were made by the corn gods, in Mexican Aztec history corn was considered a sacred plant. Therefore, the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples cooked Pozole only on special occasions.

The indigenous ancestors used human flesh in the stew. Aztec priests would make human sacrifices to their gods, offering up the heart and using the rest of the flesh for a ceremonial pozole. After the Spanish conquest, Spanish rulers outlawed cannibalism, and so pork was used in replacement of human flesh in pozole.

Both soups are also deeply emblematic of their cultures. The roots of pozole pre-date Spanish colonization, and the dish is said to have had ritual significance for the indigenous people of Mexico. Its principal ingredient, corn, was a sacred crop to the Aztecs and Mayans.

There's really no big difference between pozole and posole, except a letter. In Mexico, where the brothy, chile-spiked soup originated, it's often spelled with a "z"; near the border and beyond, it's often spelled with an "s." It just depends where you are, and who taught you to cook it.

: a thick soup chiefly of Mexico and the U.S. Southwest made with pork, hominy, garlic, and chili.

Interestingly, historical records suggest that during special ceremonies, the meat used in pozole was not pork or chicken as we know it today, but rather human flesh. After the arrival of the Spanish, who banned cannibalistic practices, pork was substituted, as its taste was said to be similar.

Pozole was mentioned in the 16th century Florentine Codex by Bernardino de Sahagún. Since maize was a sacred plant for the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Mesoamerica, pozole was made to be consumed on special occasions.

The big difference between these two soups is the meat that they use. While pork and chicken are commonly used to make pozole, menudo uses tripe, which is the stomach lining of the cow with a chewy texture very similar to that of sautéed calamari.

While the Aztecs ruled, they farmed large areas of land. Staples of their diet were maize, beans and squash. To these, they added chilies and tomatoes. They also harvested Acocils, an abundant crayfish-like creature found in Lake Texcoco, as well as Spirulina algae which they made into cakes.

Did Aztecs eat eggs? ›

Believing the eggs would give them strength, Aztec emperors – including, most famously, Montezuma – were said to have eaten ahuautle every morning during the summer rainy season, when the eggs were in abundance and at their freshest.

According to Aztec cosmology, the sun god Huitzilopochtli was waging a constant war against darkness, and if the darkness won, the world would end. The keep the sun moving across the sky and preserve their very lives, the Aztecs had to feed Huitzilopochtli with human hearts and blood.

Overall pozole is a very healthy dish. However there are two things to keep in mind: Pozole can be high in cholesterol, depending on which protein is used.

Its origins remain a mystery – some people attribute its humble beginnings in Central Mexico during Mexico's pre-revolution era as a soup prepared from poverty – also known as “poor man's soup.” Usually, food waste and leftovers were given to peasant cooks, who invented menudo by using the stomach.

As many of you know, my mom is full Puerto Rican, as are my grandparents. My childhood dinners were often full of Hispanic cuisine — often empanadas, rice and beans, tostones, pozole and ALL THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE.

There are three main types of pozole, each named for the color of the soup: verde, rojo and blanco.

The pre-colonial form of pozole, which combined human flesh and the white cacahuazintle corn associated with Iztacmizcóatl, the White Cloud Serpent, was meaningful to the Aztecs, both culturally and ritualistically.

There are three varieties of pozole—green, white, and red—that are made with either chicken or pork shoulder. (Vegetarian preparations swap in beans and vegetable stock.) 1. Pozole verde, or green pozole, features a salsa verde made from tomatillos and green chiles like serranos and jalapeños.

Pozole Makes a Crowd-Pleasing Meal

This pozole rojo, or "red" pozole, is made with pork shoulder or shanks, red chiles, and lots of hominy corn.