Slurp up a little Cinco de Mayo

By Courtney Taylor
Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

Pozole is a long-simmered broth with hominy and chicken. The typical Mexican soup can be garnished with tortillas, lettuce, radish slices and salsa, among other things. Gannett News Service

That said, Americans are becoming more educated about authentic Mexican fare. They are learning: from innovative chefs on television who incorporate authentic Mexican cooking techniques, from restaurants that prepare elegant Mexican food, and from reputable cookbooks by Mexican cooks.

One of the most delightful aspects of Mexican cuisine is its vast array of soups.

"For those that are Mexican, eating soup each day is an almost indispensable part of life," writes Marilyn Tausend in "Cocina de la Familia" (Simon and Schuster, $20). The Spanish introduced their way of cooking food in liquid to Mexico, and the locals adapted these techniques, substituting robust regional ingredients such as corn, chiles, tomatoes and local herbs, she says.

Zarela Martinez, in "Zarela's Veracruz" (Houghton Mifflen, $35), credits pre-Hispanic Mexico with a wealth of soupy sauced and stew-like dishes that were meals in their own right.

Whether Mexico's modern soups began with the Spanish or before, both authors agree that the Europeans had a profound influence.

Light soups as a prelude to the Roman-style banquets among Mexico's upper classes reflected the tastes and traditions of Austrian Prince Maximilian and his Belgian wife, Carlotta, rulers placed on Mexico's throne in the 1860s by Napoleon III of France, Tausend writes.

Many of Mexico's soups are based on European-style stocks and broths, as are delicate European-style pureed soups called cremas, according to Martinez. These pureed, vegetable-based soups are usually first courses in restaurants and staples at weddings.

A simple chicken or beef broth served with limes and chiles is another light first course from Mexico's colonial period. This garnished broth is common in the morning as a restorative (some might say hangover remedy).

Tausend notes that a Mexican-American breakfast soup known as menudo often contains "little, tender squares of tripe and the zinging wake-up shock of chiles ... combined with hominy."

Mexican soups vary widely, reflecting Caribbean, European and Mayan influences, but generally start with freshly made broth of meat, fish or poached pork.

Typically, Mexican stocks will call for up to a whole head of garlic, white onions, carrots, parsley, cilantro, bay leaves and salt and pepper.

The stocks are not boiled down and concentrated like the usually heavier European stocks. The ingredients are simmered for an hour or two, then strained from the seasoned broth.

Soups are built from this light but flavorful base with classic ingredients.

Two indigenous herbs often found in Mexican soups are an anise-flavored large leaf called hoja santa (fresh tarragon can be substituted) and epazote (for which there is no flavor substitute). Recipes often call for a mixture of aromatic vegetables, peppers, tomatoes and herbs to be pureed to a sauce, then fried and concentrated in a hot skillet, to be added to the broth with freshly roasted and ground pumpkin seeds and spices such as cumin.

Pozole is a thick hominy stew with a color that varies from white to red to green, depending upon the color of the hominy and the color of peppers used.

Traditionally, pozole was made with a pork broth, but this also varies.

You'll find green chicken pozole with herbs and tomatillos, a red pozole with dried chiles and shrimp, and the plain version with white hominy.

Toppings, which add texture and flavor, include shredded cabbage, shredded lettuce, sliced radishes, oregano, chopped onion, avocado chunks, chopped chiles, fried tortillas or fried pork rinds. Lime juice and bottled hot sauce are passed at the table.