Posole is typically served on Christmas eve, but literally buckets of posole are consumed in Mexico on Thursday and Saturdays – don’t ask me why, it’s just the custom.
When we feel poorly and bedridden with an oppressing and debilitating cold, we crave the magical comfort of Chicken Noddle soup (known as Jewish Penicillin) and Posole is the prominent Mexican remedy for flu and equally as effective for the common hangover.
However, the vast consumption of posole isn’t necessarily for those reasons. When prepared correctly it’s soup nirvana; yes, the Mexicans know a good thing when they taste it! Posole is one of the most popular soups in Mexico alongside Menudo. Some individuals don’t have the stomach for Menudo – pun intended – as the main ingredient is tripe, cow’s stomach. And if right about now you are feeling righteously indignant about Menudo, with Posole you are on safe ground, as the main ingredient is “hominy”.
If you are scratching the proverbial bean because hominy has never even entered your vocabulary – don’t fret my pet, it’s just as innocuous as eating grits, because it comes from the same source: corn. Seriously, without hominy we wouldn’t have corn tortillas, chips, grits, polenta or even cornflakes.
Hominy is dried corn that has been soaked in a special solution to remove the outer husk. By soaking it, the kernels swell to twice their size, and the result is lovely puffy, white corn that is heavenly. As with any dish, there are many versions of posole, most popular are red and green.
