Family traditions

Log Cabin Staff Writer

Last week, I mentioned a traditional food in my family. Normally this food is made only on Christmas Eve or New Years depending on your family, but myself and my husband both wanted to have some last week. So I made a large pot full and homemade tortillas to go with it. 

What is this mystery dish? 

It is called posole. 

It is a dish native to New Mexico where my mother was born and where most of my maternal extended family still lives. Posole is a tradition there everyone knows of, but few outside of New Mexico know of it I’ve found. 

The word posole is pronounced po-SO-lay. It is basically a corn (similar to hominy in appearance) and pork stew that is known as the ceremonial dish for celebrating life’s blessings. 

The cuisine in New Mexico is a cross of three cultures: Native American, Mexican and European Spanish. Posole comes from the Pueblo and Anasazi Indian tribes that lived in the region prior to the Spanish arrival in the 1600s. While my family falls in the European Spanish culture, years of living in New Mexico caused our family to adopt the cuisine of the region. My ancestors settled in New Mexico in the 1600’s when the Spanish first came to the area to build the mission at Santa Fe. My several times great grandfather was one of those builders who came with the conquistadors to escape the inquisition back home. I suppose facing the threat of unfriendly Native Americans was less daunting than facing the inquisition, so they chose the “New World” for their future. 

Like my own family, many of New Mexico’s old families adopted the cuisine of the region and that included posole made from corn grown by the Indians of the region. 

While posole looks very much like hominy and you will even see that word on cans of hominy at local grocery stores they are not the same. Living in Arkansas, I have to make due with cans of hominy but it isn’t the same thing. 

True posole is prepared by soaking field corn in powdered lime and water - a method thought to mimic the ancient preservation of corn in limestone caves. After several hours, when the corn kernels have swollen, the liquid is allowed to evaporate and the kernels to dry.

Hominy is similarly processed but is not allowed that drying period and thus tends to be softer and less earthy tasting than posole. Compared to hominy, posole’s flavor is intense and its texture is heartier but because true posole is hard to find, hominy does fine in its place. 

In my family, posole was always made with pork though some families prefer chicken instead and of course these days some prefer vegetarian versions. 

There are also differences of opinion about what sort of chili is included, red or green. 

They say people of southern New Mexico like red chile while the people of northern New Mexico prefer green chile but my family seems to go both ways and they are from Santa Fe. It comes down to personal taste I think. 

There also are a number of ways to prepare posole. My mother and I even differ on how we make the dish. It is forgiving in that way. 

I don’t like dealing with cutting up a large pork roast so I tend to use pork tenderloin, which is smaller, and more tender or even pork chops that I cut up. Either is great, though the tenderloin being a better cut than pork chops is most excellent in posole. 

The hardest part of the whole dish when made with canned hominy is cutting up the meat. 

I prefer the green chile version myself. Partly because the green is a bit less hot than the red chilies. You see, my family cannot eat extremely spicy foods. My mother usually makes her own red or green chile to go on the side with her posole so others can still eat the dish without having flames shooting out their ears. The rest of us, not born with asbestos tongues tend to like it less spicy. 

I use a lot more spices to give it an exotic flavor and just a small amount of bite from chile. It is also difficult in Arkansas to find the right sort of fresh chiles so I tend to just go with a basic bell pepper or roasted Anaheim chiles if I can find them. Poblano are also good but a bit hotter so I have to be careful not to use too many. I’ve even seen recipes which included tomatillos (those odd green tomatoes at the grocery store with the husk on them). 

Some people like to boil the meat, while I like to cook the meat with the veggies in very little water or broth like you would for a beef stew. 

I decided to share the recipe this week even though we are far from the holidays. My mother laughed at me for making it in September but I just couldn’t wait until December for it. 

Tam’s Posole Recipe

1 large green bell pepper seeded and chopped or 4 Anaheim chilies roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 to 3 cloves of minced garlic depending on how much you like garlic

1 white onion diced 

2 tablespoons dried mild red chili (I use 1 tablespoon if the mild red chili is from New Mexico as it is much hotter than what is considered mild here)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white sugar 

2 pounds of pork chops or pork tenderloin chopped into 1-inch cubes

1 small can of tomato sauce

4 16-ounce cans of white hominy

a can or so of water if needed or you can use chicken broth

In a large Dutch oven or heavy stock pot, add bell pepper, garlic, onion, spices and sugar. Cook until the peppers and onions begin to get tender. Use a bit of water or olive oil to keep everything from sticking and stir often. If you are using the Anaheim peppers leave those out until the onions are tender and then add those. Add the meat and brown it with the veggies. Pork tends to turn white rather than brown up, this is fine. Just make sure the meat is getting sealed like you do any stew meat. Add tomato sauce, hominy (do not drain) and if it appears too thick add water or chicken broth to thin. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, stirring often. Turn heat down to medium and cover. Cook until meat is cooked through and tender. 

I suggest serving posole with some sort of bread on the side, generally tortillas. 

If you do not like store bought tortillas like me, you can make your own. There are prepackaged mixes in the flour aisle at most local stores for flour tortillas. All you do is add water and follow the directions. 

They aren’t as good as my grandmother’s or my aunt Frances’s sister Gloria’s, but they still taste better than store bought. You can also serve it with other types of bread if you don’t care about being traditional. Since I generally make it around New Years, it goes well with cornbread that I make to go with another family tradition from my father’s side: Cajun style black eyed pea soup. 

When you try to appease traditions from all sides of your family for holidays, the menu can be a bit strange but that is part of the fun. Posole, tortillas, (mom’s side) Cajun style black eyed pea soup, corn bread (dad’s side) and fried hog jowls (husband’s family)...an odd combination for a meal and probably quite bad for you calorie and fat wise, but that is what adorns our table every New Years because those are our heritage.