Posole or Pozole

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Posole/Pozole is driving me nuts.  Is it English?
   Posole--5,100 Google hits.
   Pozole--6,610 Google hits.
   Posole/Pozole--not in the new DARE P-SK.  Not in OED.  Not in
Merriam-Webster.  Not in John Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND
DRINK (1999).
   Posole is an entry in THE OXFORD COMPANION TO FOOD (1999).  "Pozole" is
mentioned there as a soup-stew.
   Whew!  A leg to stand on when I confront OED!
   As can be seen from the Google hits, the term is not rare at all in
English.  It also appears in the Sharon Herbst's Food Dictionary, as can be
seen on the epicurious.com web site (click "learn").
   From WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY OF CULINARY ARTS (1997, second edition
2001), pg. 364:

_posole; pozole_ (poh-SOH-leh) A Mexican soup of pork and broth, hominy and
onions, flavored with garlic, chiles and cilantro and garnished with lettuce,
onions, cheese and cilantro.

   But don't trust WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD.  It's got crazy foreign words like
"lebkuchen" in there.
   I haven't gone through the databases, but the following ain't bad.

THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO:
WHO THEY ARE AND HOW THEY LIVE
by Wallace Thompson
New York: Harper & Brothers
1921

Pg. 264:
   Other corn-meal foods of Mexico are _cocoles_, _chavacanes_, and _pemol_.
_Cocoles_ are cakes or biscuits (Pg. 265--ed.) of corn meal, half an inch in
thickness and two inches in diameter.  They contain some shortening and are
served hot.  _Chavacanes_, which are better known, are a mixture of the corn
meal with shortening and eggs.  They are made up into fat round or square
crackers, and cooked rapidly, as _tortillas_ are.  _Pemol_ is a corn cake
made from the same meal.  In consistency it is not unlike Scotch shortbread,
and it is made up in a variety of forms, from tiny cakes the size of a half
dollar and a quarter of an inch in thickness, to large horseshoe loaves which
are sold for special occasions and may be compared to German _Kaffeekuchen_.
The _gordas_, or "fat ones," are the Mexican sandwich, a thick layer of corn
meal inclosing meat, _chile_, and _frijoles_,  cooked, and eaten cold.
_Posole_, corn meal in big balls, cooked and cooled, forms, like the
_gordas_, a diet for long marches and particularly for long canoe trips where
fires cannot be lighted.  The Indians provided with this food are perfectly
equipped for a trip of several days.  The balls of meal are either eaten dry
or mixed with to a gruel with water scooped up from the boatside in the gourd
or half coconut shell which, with this food supply and his blanket,
constitute the Indian's "outing equipment."


(Below are two hits from GOOGLE and GOOGLE GROUPS--ed.)


        Posole - Native American Thanksgiving - vegan

Adapted for vegan

2 lg Cans of hominy
3 Or 4 cans of vegetable broth or stock
2 Or 3 green chiles (roasted and peeled)
1 lg 1015 onion, diced
3 Or 4 large carrots, diced
3 Or 4 stalks of celery diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 ts Each oregano, garlic, cumin
1 tb Chile powder
Fresh cilantro, minced, 2 Tbsp

Yet another appropriate Thanksgiving dish is Posole, which is indigenous to
the Native American southwest. Posole is really considered most traditional
around Christmastime and is always served New Year's Eve and/or New Year's
Day for good luck. However, Pueblo peoples have made posole for generations
and it is a staple winter dish.

Saute the onions and celery until the onion is transparent. This can be done
with water and veggie stock or with spray-type coatings. Dump everything else
in and bring to a low boil. Simmer until you like the texture. The hominy
should be really soft, almost to the break-up-and-really-form-a-thick-stew
stage.

Serve posole with cornbread and a crisp green salad. If you wish to add any
animal protein, the original recipes call for pork or ham.
Please consider your tolerance for spices. The heat will come from the green
chiles and the chile powder, as well as the black pepper.


From: <A HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=author:harvey%40indyvax.iupui.edu+">James Harvey</A> (<A HREF="mailto:harvey%40indyvax.iupui.edu">harvey at indyvax.iupui.edu</A>)
Subject: Re: Pozole
View: <A HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=1996Sep25.151340.26669%40indyvax.iupui.edu&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dpozole%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D1996Sep25.151340.26669%2540indyvax.iupui.edu%26rnum%3D1">Complete Thread (68 articles)</A>
<A HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1996Sep25.151340.26669%40indyvax.iupui.edu&output=gplain">Original Format</A>
Newsgroups: <A HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=rec.food.cooking">rec.food.cooking</A>
Date: 1996/09/25

In article <01bbaa3c$a585f540$4a4884d0 at Mimir.datasync.com>, "Culinary
Curmudgeon" <unktahe at datasync.com> writes:> Here in the South we call pozole
"hominy"...According to Rick and Deann> Bayless in Authentic Mexican (1987)
pozole (or posole) is "half-cooked> hominy".  It is made from dried, white
field corn, boiled in slaked lime,> washed and then "deflowered" by picking
out the germ so that the kernel> will bloat as it cooks.Pozole is also the
name of a native Mexican dish, a soup/stew made withhominy.  Maybe that's how
it came to refer to hominy in the U.S. Southand Southwest.  Here is a recipe
from Lori Matiella-Murray's "Waking theDead with Tia Gloria's Chicken Pozole"
web page at<A HREF="http://www.mercado.com/comida/lori/pozole.htm">http://www.mercado.com/comida/lori/pozole.htm</A>PozoleIngredients:1
whole chicken1 cup nixtamal (hominy)1/2 cup dry pinto beansNew Mexico red
chile, powder formbay leavesoreganogarliconionGarnish:cilantrogreen
cabbagegreen onionslimesPreparation:Cook 1/2 cup of dried beans in water,
oregano, garlic, and onion.  Whenthere is about a half an hour of cooking
time left, add the hominy.Set aside the beans and hominy after they are
done.At the same time you are cooking the beans and hominy, cook the
chicken.Remove all the skin from one whole chicken.  Cook the chicken in
plentyof water, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, bay leaf,
etc.After the chicken is done, de-bone it, cut it into chunks, and return
itto the chicken broth.  The broth can be de-fatted prior to this step ifyou
desire.  To de-fat the broth, store it (and the cooked chicken)overnight in
the refrigerator>  In the morning, skim the congealed excessfat off the top.
There should be little need to do this if the chickenwas cooked without the
skin.Add the beans and hominy to the chicken and broth.  Depending on how
hotyou like your dishes, add 1/8 to 1/4 cup powdered New Mexico chile.If you
prefer it, at this point you can remove the pieces of onion andgarlic from
the broth.  Correct the seasoning.  Simmer for 10 minutes onlow heat to allow
the flavors to marry.Serve with a garnish of finely chopped cilantro, green
onion and shreddedcabbage.  Squirt a little lime juice on top.  Serve salsa
and flour tortillason the side.My notes on the recipe:The recipe author
included this note about obtaining nixtamal (hominy):You can find it in the
meat department, frozen food section or specialtyfood section in dry form.
In some parts of the Southwest, like New Mexico,nixtamal or hominy is called
posole.I haven't seen dried hominy around here so I just use canned.  I use
more(1 can, almost two cups) since I think the 1 cup quantity specified in
therecipe assumes that you are using the dried stuff.The dish appears to be
traditionally made with pork.  The recipe authoruses chicken for health
reasons.  See<A HREF="http://mexico.udg.mx/Ingles/Cocina/Sopas/pozole.html">http://mexico.udg.mx/Ingles/Cocina/Sopas/pozole.html</A>and, if your
Spanish is up to speed,<A HREF="http://mexico.udg.mx/Cocina/Sopas/Pozole1.html">http://mexico.udg.mx/Cocina/Sopas/Pozole1.html</A>The last
page has links to four regional recipes for pozole.Cook the beans in enough
water to cover.  The important things is to notlet them cook dry and burn.
This step can be done in a crockpot.  Trussthe chicken, with some of the
seasoning and herbs inside, and don't gooverboard on the water (remember it
is all going into the pozole and youdon't want it to end up too watery).  You
do want it covered though, ornearly so.If you are really really really in a
hurry you could probably use a small(14 oz.) can of beans, saute some cut-up
chicken pieces and use canned stock,but of course it won't be the same
thing.--James Harvey  harvey at iupui.edu  Disclaimer: My opinions; I don't
speak for IU.