Menudo, how I love thee!

No, not Menudo the Puerto Rican pop musical group! Menudo is a traditional Mexican soup, and as very properly indicated by the Wikipedia entry, it’s often thought of as a cure for hangover (no, I didn’t have a MargaritaCamp for myself, I went to bed relatively early).

I apologize to my vegetarian readers, but truth be told, I *love* menudo. When I was a child, I used to refuse to eat the actual meat, but ever since I asked for it to be minced (a trick I learned about 10 years ago), I can now eat small amounts of meat. But to me, the real appeal of menudo resides in the social nature, and the family-oriented ritual.

Sunday rituals would include menudo for breakfast with my parents and all my brothers, followed by church and then, as my brothers grew older and started getting married, my brother S, my Mom and I would go for menudo. When I visit, I also often go for menudo with my Dad, although the fact that he and Mom are no longer together makes for fun visits, because they get along really well and thus we can go for breakfast (Mom, Dad and myself) making acquaintances and old friends who see me with both my parents at the same time, really puzzled. Hehehe. I know, I love shocking people. But the truth is, they both love menudo and I love hanging out with both my parents, so what better occasion than having menudo for breakfast? The breakfast of champions!

For my vegetarian readers, I should let you know that there is a vegetarian version of menudo, where the meat is substituted by minced gluten steak. Pretty yummy, if I say so myself. If I can learn how to make vegetarian menudo, I’ll try to organize a potluck when I get back to Vancouver. You should also know that I eat my menudo with LOTS of lemon (lime?) and LOTS of chopped onion. The photo at the top is of my plate, and the one at the bottom is of my plate BEFORE I added my usual condiments.

Provecho!