Menudo Recipes

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.

OTHER MENUDO RECIPES

• Menudo Recipe 1

• Menudo Recipe 2

• Other Menudo Links

Last Updated: March 22, 2006