Cozy Caldos

My name is Eva Longoria and I am Myra and welcome to Hungry for History, a podcast that explores our past and present through food. On every episode, we'll talk about the history of some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, and beverages from our culture.

So make yourself at home.

Even Brochel, Oh my god, I feel like crawling into a hole and eating gado for the rest of my life. This isn't a lie. Literally, my cozy place is cooking cardos. First of all, when I'm anxious. I just love cooking.

But one of my favorite things to do.

Is soups and caldos and portis in Spain.

I'm with you, I'm with you. There's nothing more comforting than a cardo. A good carlo is like a warm hug.

It is, It's like a warm hug.

So today's episode is all about will never forget the day, the day where.

We were on election Day.

Yeah, I came over to your house on election day and we were going to record and you were just like, I can't, I can't, let's just cook.

Everything just smelt so it smelled like home, your house, I know, and you never had.

I made posole and tortilla, both they're in my cookbook.

Because it's soup season.

I couldn't decide which tortilla soup is probably my most requested soup from my friends, and they were all coming over for the election, so I was like, I'll make that, but I was I was really excited about the possole, and once everybody got here.

They were equally excited for the posole. It was delicious.

I had never had white bosole, and so it was It was really it was really delicious because it was just just the broth was sort of thick and just so flavorful, and there was pork and chicken and herbs and and the fry TOI yeah, I mean it was like just so many things going at the same time, so many smells, and it was the perfect day.

I don't know if this is traditional, but posla is pork.

Well.

I make my posola with a pork broth. First you start boiling the pork shoulder and then you add chicken legs in, so then you end up getting a pork chicken broth mix and it is like mind blowing it really. I'm just like, my favorite thing about posola is the corn. I love homini, but I think this broth is probably my favorite broth of the entire cookbook.

Yeah, that broth was really extraordinary. I was just I mean, I was just eating. I was just standing in front of it, just taking spoonfuls of it from this giant pot.

And also pasola is like Mexican oregano heavy, which is very different than a regano or Italian oregano.

Totally different family, totally different. But then you also had bay leaves in there, and so that gives it this really earthy flavor. So it was just this combination of of of flavors and aromas that was just really intoxicating. It was the perfect thing to eat and the perfect way to spend the afternoon. I have to say it was at your house. Just it was fun and it was cozy and nice.

Before it turned really dark cado. I know then we started drinking.

But you know, I always say this, I think the soup, the soup chapter in my cookbook is what I'm most proud of. I love stews and soups and broths that are a meal, Like I want it to be the meal. I don't want it to be an entrada. I don't want it to be an appetizer. It needs to be the whole meal, and so I just feel like other than it's like cozy in the weather turns.

I love a one pot meal. Yeah for sure.

So how did you go about choosing those specific recipes, the ones that you have in your cookbook?

Honestly, these are the ones I cook the most. I cook a lot.

I always cook, so I always make sopa, I always make chili cone, like, these are just things I always make that I didn't put in my first cookbook.

And I was like, you know.

What, I said, let me let me oh, I want to put this in the cookbook. And then I go, oh, yeah, this other one. And then my girlfriend was like, you know, don't forget the lemon the limon chicken.

And I was like, oh, yeah, that's ord I do make that. And then the new one.

That was the new one was a new one that that I felt like, oh, there's not probably not much to this one, and I fell in love with it in Mexico on my on my Journey.

Then U Katthan, Yeah, yeah, that is a great one.

You know, my dad was from Yukatan, so I whenever somebody would go to Yukatan, they would bring back some le mask because they're different.

Then that was a new one.

But also a new one that I hadn't made that I fell in love with was corn soup.

I mean like corn and green chile soup is what I heard.

Yeah, cookbook with salza macha, but like just corn so, you know, like it's of course it's corn, so and you know, you reserve the cobs because you want to make you know, make that broth and you add your green chilis.

It's just filling again, filling.

Yeah, gosh, they're so good. And there is something about that one one pop meal. It's simple. You don't have to wash a ton of dishes and then you just have this full meal. One of my favorites is the Caldo l'alpeno. And I have to go to Danny's, my favorite home, you know.

Chain not Denny.

There's not to be confused with Denny's. Danny's.

Danny's they're the best.

It's basically a chicken soup and they have like a giant piece of chicken in there, vegetables and chipotlet, and it's like a tomatoy broth and it has the fried you know, yas tons of lime juice and there's this legend that in the nineteenth century, President Antonio Lopez the Santana he was hungover and he asked his cooks to make him some babe and they came.

Up with this and they called it Carlo because he was in in Lalpan.

And so, but that's also another thing about you know, their homie, their cozy, they're warm, they're nutritious, warm pop meals. But also oftentimes, oh you have a calota cure your hangover, you know, Oh my god.

Well that that, by the way, I feel like that's why manulo was invented. That's what we used to eat in college at like three am at Mithierra and San Antonio, you know, hungover, and it's open twenty four hours. So we're like, Lola manudle, like there's something caring about eating calobo. Well, when we come back, we are heading into the kitchen to cook two caldos from my cole and.

Oh, I can't wait, don't go anywhere, we'll be back after the break. On election day, even invited me over to cook some of her favorite soups and they were delicious. Here's our cooking from that day.

So we are in my kitchen. It's election night, and yes we are drinking. I can't. I don't have words. And when I'm stressed, I cook. I actually stress cooked all day today. Really, would you make? Oh my god?

Everything I made beans, I made cufe gulano. I made lunch for pepper tuna salad with all this stuff.

And then I was like, you know what should I make this hour?

I should make the sour dough for the bread for the tuna sandwich and really, and then I was like, no, I know I'm not gonna make the I mean I've been a crazy person.

No, well, it's it's a stressful day. It's a very stressful day. But when I walked in.

The smell of the smell of Eva's house is well, the smell of Eva's house is home. Yeah, it smells like home.

Really, that's the Mexican regano.

Mexican smells chicken and just all of the all of the smells.

So it's soups, and yes, I could have a soup every day. What I like about the soups in my cookbook is they're all hearty, so they're a meal, Like that's all.

I'm having a super dinner. So you made white, I made white posola today.

I could easily make a green because I have the salsa, but I think we're gonna do white.

I've never had white bosole. Yeah, it's not that common. I know it's red or green. It's usually red or green. I don't know why I do white. Really, I'm excited. I mean, I just tasted the broth and it's incredible.

And here's the other thing that I love about posole menu, though, is harmony. I mean I put extra hominy in mind, which I'm gonna put another.

That's the best part.

Yeah, And so the word borsoli comes from posoli. And now while posoli which means foam because it's this corn, this nick stimalized corn, the harmony when it comes up at the top, it looks like foam.

I've been boiling the broth.

I boiled the pork shoulder for about three hours, then had the oregano and the onion and salt and bay leaf and cilantro, and then about well about an hour and a half in then I put chicken leg quarters. So it is one of the few soups that is pork and chicken broth.

I'm excited to try it. I'm about to add a new can.

Here's my chicken, the chicken leg quarters, and here's the pork. I shredded it, and I just you keep.

This broth simmering on low rushing up my drink. I can't believe I down. I was so thirsty, but like for a drink. I was just like, when can I drink? When getting here? Oh my god, this broth the bros is really delicious. Okay, let's put the chicken back in.

Oh my gosh, Okay, this is really finely shredded chicken.

And then we'll put the pork back in. So it was this like a whole like a whole chicken, like four leg quarters. Okay, yeah, because I like dark meat. Yeah, me too. Oh my god, even this is incredible. This is his shoulder, this pork shoulder.

Oh my god.

I could just eat thisa me too.

All also making tortilla, so because it's my friend's favorite.

All my friends they always are you making torti soup? Are you making to soup? Yeah? I'm like, I'll make both. Is this in your cookbook as well?

This is my old it's this is the first right now, it's in my first cookbook, but it is one of the most famous soups that I make.

It's just famous. Yeah. But yeah, so you rehydrate on.

Cho and wahiel chili's once they're really mushy, you d see them.

You rinse it.

I've written some all the seeds out, and I throw it in a blender with tomatoes and garlic and.

Salt.

And it's a very thick paste, like so thick.

So I strain it through a calendar. It's like super smoothky. Look how sulky that is? Yeah? Yeah, no, it's super smooth. It's beautiful, beautiful. Yeah.

So then you take that paste and then you add all this chicken broth into it. Okay, this one's pretty strong. You could actually I could have. I could afford to put some more chicken broth in it because look.

At that color. Yeah, it's it's dark. Yeah, it's very opaque.

So then I shredded some I just had a rotisserie chicken because I didn't have time.

Okay, So I didn't boil this chicken or anything.

I just shredded a rotisserie chicken, okay, deboned it, and now I'm throwing.

It into our tortilla soup. And then you just let that stay warm. But this has been boiling for about two hours. Because you want all of those.

The chili and the apple, and the and the tomato.

You want all of that too. Oh, the tomato in it too.

Okay to marry each other, Okay, in your paste. It's chili, tomatoes, masic mostly the basse. All right, we have all of our garnishes.

Look at this, that's the poslet.

We can't think of a better way to spend delection today, to spend today and every day.

Just see in the kitchen. I know, okay, look at this. Let's get a good bite with everything in it. Cover it up.

It's really delicious, you know, great, and it's white white, never whitle.

It's so it's like it's all in the broth. It's all in the broth. It's all in the really really good broth.

Not complicated soup. It just takes a long time to get these flavors in their broth.

Hm. The homonade, this is delicious.

The homonae with the pork, with the chicken, with the avocado.

It's the perfect balance. Kitchen is full. Kids are here being a little loud, but we are going to move on to the tortilla soup. We're gonna fry the tortilla chips.

Okay, So it's just they're just cut into long, thin strips.

I like it thin, some people like thick. And this is just vegetable oil.

Also, I don't want an olive oil taste with this tortillas sou.

It doesn't go.

And also, vegetable oil burns at a higher temperature, so you could really get that nice golden brown color without the oil burning and the hoping turning bitter.

Yeah, oh, your thing on fire. I always catch it on fire. I'm always catching something on fire.

So we do these in batches because you actually don't want to crowd the pan, because you want these tortilla strips crispy.

Speaking of I knew it.

I knew I was going to catch it, all right. So now we're about to assemble our tortilla soup. We put all the condiments at the bottom.

Okay, here we go. We're going to do a little bit of.

Chicken and some bra My gosh, that looks to me so red.

It is beautiful.

Now you put the avocadoes and and and a little bit of me.

I like a lot of caeso presco and lime. Don't forget lime. This is my friend's favorite. Don't you guys love when I make this? Okay, let's let's see. We got to have everything in one bite. It's a little hot, it's smoky, but not spicy. Mm hmmm. So if you want to spicy, you can leave the seeds in it. No, but this is nice. It's really subtle. But it's so hardy mm so hearty. Oh my god. So that's the tortilla soup.

Two soups tonight, you guys, don't go anywhere hungry for history will be right.

Back after the break. Calo, it's my favorite word for you to say. I love calo Calo.

I grew up with caldo more than what's the difference with caldo for me? I just know caldo de pois. If you said just caldo, you know it's going to be a caldo deo.

Well, there's also calorees, hit beef bra there's a camaron, which is one of my favorites.

And you know, I feel like every country has their caldo de because in Italy they have that that one that's called no not penicillin, Grandma's penicillin, and it's the Italian chicken pastini.

Soup.

Every culture has a version of that. So you're thirty, Yeah, soup, it was incredible.

Thank you.

I do it.

It's my famous. Yeah.

You start with like the base of ch chili paste basically, so you boil on chow chili's wahil chils that are dried, so you got to rehydrate them, de stell them, take out the seeds, and then you burrey that with tomatoes, garlic, ci landro, a little bit of broth, salt and that.

It's really thick.

And what I do is I strain it through a colander to get all the still because it's still very fibrous. Cheat dried chili is very uh. It has a lot of little little little fibers, and so if you don't strain it, it's in the soup. It kind of looks cool sometimes if you leave it. But I strain it, and then you put that like constant. It doesn't taste good like that. It's so concentrated and tastes like a

You know, the chili pepe.

It was delicious, and then it has you know, garnishes of guests.

Cheese, some lun oocado.

But I said this too, I said, watch the paper towel. I always catch it on fire. And that's why when my husband walked in, he's like, what are you guys doing? Were like, we know what we're doing, and we were like, sorry, Hi, We were like, guys, we know what we're doing.

We have a podcast.

I did panic for a split second, but you had clearly gone through that rodeo before. You had clearly lit a paper towel on fire before.

It was so funny, which posolas are from what region?

Because red, green, and white are the kinds, but they're from different regions.

Huh, they're from different regions.

So the red pole is typically from Guerrero and Jalisco. White, which is the one that you made that I'd never had before, and it was amazing, Guerrero and Cela, Mexico. And then the greens from Guerrero and Metro gun so all sort of central even though we have them everywhere. But each of them has slightly different ingredients, you know, slightly different flavors. The white one that you made was

I mean, soup seems like it must have come from caveman times, like as soon as fire was invented, there must have been.

I don't know, a documentation of soup. Is that how long ago it is? Yeah?

Yeah, So there's a archaeologist, John Speth who argued that has argued that Neanderthals, ancient humans that lived, you know, two hundred thouyd and twenty eight years ago, they would have needed this boiling technology to render fat from animal boats, to make bone broth to supplement their their diets because there's just only so much protein the kidneys and the liver can process right before they become poisoned, So they needed to get half of their calories from fat and carbohydrates.

To to do all the soup. Yeah, right, exactly to hold the soup.

I feel like soup must have been born of medicinal properties. I mean, if you just think about the Neanderthals and they're like we need to.

Supplement or diet like that was a little medicinal.

But was there like a more purposeful medicinal reason why soup was invented?

Yeah, definitely.

So there's also actually the earliest known recipes for soups and broths are in Cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia region which includes Babylon and Assyrian from around seventeen thirty BC. And there's a team of scholars and you know, culinary historians that took some of these tablets that are from the Yale Peabody Museum and tried to you know, and decipher them and made the recipes and they have unique uses.

Into the Sun's very cool, very interesting.

When did we start eating it like in a more formal bowl, So that's a really good question. So the evolution of pottery allowed us to have a super ma bowl, right, So, and it's this one of the oldest human inventions, and that gave people the ability to steam, to boil and to simmer food. And by doing that you can make food that's soft, and you could feed soft food to children and to the toothless elderly, allowing people to live longer.

Well yeah, I mean, if you think about China Japan, they have some amazing soups.

Like you know, some of my favorite soups are from Japan.

I hope you guys enjoyed this episode as much as we did. My cookbook is out now, Eva's Mexican Kitchen.

Pick it up and try.

The posle that we had today, and the tortilla soup is in my first cookbook, Eva's Kitchen.

We've got a very special bonus episode dropping tomorrow that's all about Tamalais' Maalais. I Thank you and stay cozy.

Hungry for History is a hyphen It Media production in partnership with Iheart's Michael Pura podcast network.

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