XXVII. Pozole...Aaah!

Posole…Ahhh!

At the corner of Ocampo and Juarez, just a block and a half from where we live,
is the abarrotes where you can buy pozole every Sunday after 1:00ish. The
owners nice young son may even bring out a little chair for you to sit on.

You've got to take your own pot to the abarrotes where they sell pozole every Sunday. Make sure you get there no later than 1:30, since this hominy and pork stew is allegedly ready by 1:00, which really means 1:30, and there'll be at least three people already waiting on the stoop when you get there. If it's a day like yesterday, one of them will be me. 

We’d been talking about it for weeks, but it took us awhile to get up our nerve to buy soup cooked in the home kitchen belonging to owners of the little corner convenience store. I first stopped by there last week a little before 4PM, but the pozole was long gone. That’s when I ascertained that it was necessary to bring mi propio olla—my own pot—to take it back home in.

This Sunday, I gave my order and handed over my pot okay, but when the nice young woman then hit me with an unexpected question, rather than shrug and say I didn’t understand, I nodded like I knew what she was talking about. Then I fretted I was requesting an extra helping of horns and hoofs or some gaggable organ meat. No worries, though. She was only asking whether I wanted a side of slaw and radishes. 

Pozole, which is gringo-spelled with an 's', es muy rico--very rich. That's common wisdom around here, and it's true: after refrigerating, the broth turns gelatinous from all the fat it contains. But it's not expensive. My gastronome spouse and I got enough for both of us for dinner (plus that side of col y rábanos), and we enjoyed it again today at lunch. Total cost: 80 pesos--just a few cents over $5. 

Lifting the lid on this pot of lip-smacking goodness: Mmmmm

Make sure, though, you don't bust the bag of accompanying salsa when you put your now-full pot in a bolsa to take home. That's what I did, leaving a trail for dogs to follow and sniff, and one fellow to question the awkward way I was carrying the load. 

"Pesado [heavy]?" he asked. 

"Si, pero es pozole." 

"Ah, pozole--muy rico." 

Si, y tambien muy delicioso!