MENUDO
Aromatic soup boasts special qualities

Every culture has great restorative stew of humble origin and ingredients. 

The Hungarians and other Central Europeans have their cabbage soup. The French have their potage St. Germain. The Greeks have their white bean soup and the Mexicans have their menudo.

Menudo is a wonderfully aromatic soup made of tripe, hominy and chili, and is stewed for hours with garlic and other spices. the broth is rich, red, papery, and glistens with fat. It stimulates the senses, arms the insides, and clears the head.

Menudo is served in big open bowls brought to the table steaming and fiery. It is usually eaten in the wee hours after a night out on the town and widely proclaimed to be an antidote for hangovers.

Mexicans brag about menudo's goodness, about how the hot broth with its medicinal condiments, particularly the chili, replenishes vitamins A and C, soothes the stomach, and stimulates the gastric juices to overcome any loss of appetite.

Unfortunately, unlike the enchilada, taco, and tamale, menudo has not become a part of the popular Tex-Mex cuisine.

Wherever there's a Mexican community, there's menudo and San Marcos is no exception.

A hearty tripe soup as it is prepared in the north of Mexico, this is especially  recommended as a cure for hangovers. It is always made on New Year's morning.

MENUDO RECIPE 1

A large saucepan (see note below)
1 calf's foot (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds)
2 pounds honeycomb tripe
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
6 peppercorns
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
4 quarts of water
A comal or griddle
3 large chiles anchos
A spice grinder
A large chile poblano, peeled or 2 canned, peeled green chiles
The calf's foot
1/2 cup canned hominy (1 pound) drained (see note below)
Salt as necessary
1 scant teaspoon oregano

Have the butcher cut the calf's foot into four pieces. Cut the tripe into small squares. Put them into the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours, or until the tripe and foot are just tender but not too soft. Meanwhile, toast the chilies well. Slit them open and remove the seeds and veins from the chile poblano, cut it into strips, and add to the meat while it
is cooking. Remove the pieces of calf's foot from the pen, and when they are cool enough to handle, strip off the fleshy parts. Chop them roughly and return them to the pan.

Add hominy and continue cooking the menudo slowly, still uncovered, for another 2 hours.

Add salt as necessary. Sprinkle with oregano and serve (see note below).

This amount is sufficient for 7 or 8 people. It should be served in large, deep bowls with hot tortillas and small dishes of chopped chile serranos, finely chopped onion and wedges of lime for each person to help himself, along with Salsa de Tomate Verde Cruda to be eaten with tortillas.

MENUDO RECIPE 2

The following recipe was provided by David Courtland:

3 pounds tripe
3 pounds nixtamal (hominy) frozen, not canned
3 pounds pigs feet (not calves) cut into quarters
1 large onion diced
1 bunch green onion cut up in 1/4" pieces
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
2 tablespoons Oregano
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 head of garlic
2 tablespoons salt

Wash tripe thoroughly, remove excess fat and cut into bite sized pieces, wash nixtamal and pigs feet well and combine all ingredient in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer slowly until corn opens and is cooked (not overcooked). Skim off grease. It is best if you can refrigerate it in order to remove all grease.

Serve with fresh cilantro, chopped green onion, chiltepin, limon and toasted bolillos.

Buen provecho!! ( Good stuff )