Cocido :: Home Made Beef and Vegetable soup, Also Known As Caldo de Res

A big pot of cocido, simmering last week in my kitchen.

Nearly 40 years ago, long before the website Mexico Cooks! was a possibility--when I was just beginning to learn Spanish and some simple things about the totally-new-to-me Mexican kitchen, I would occasionally hear the word cocido from friends in Tijuana.  I looked it up in my dictionary.  I learned that cocido was the past participle for the verb cocer, to cook, or to boil.  The dictionary gave this example: "Estoy a dieta, solo puedo comer pollo cocido." (I'm on a diet, I can only eat cooked [boiled] chicken.)  OK!  That was easy.  But no, cocido isn't chicken.  Back to the drawing board.  For literally years I thought that cocido was a mystery dish that I would never see, understand, or taste.

About 20 years ago, I was looking at a homestyle restaurant menu and the lightbulb finally went on in my brain.  I asked the waiter for a bowl of caldo de res (beef and vegetable soup), and he nodded as he wrote the order--and said, "Cocido para usted, señora."  Wait!  What?  He smiled and said, Sí, cocido.  O como dijo usted, caldo de res."  ('Yes, 'cocido', or as you said,)--well, you get it.)  Like many things in Spanish, there is an example of their being more than one word for the same thing.  Cultural literacy is learning what is colloquially used as a name for something that also has a more formal name. 

Now that I knew what cocido is, I found someone to teach me how to make it, and today--if you don't know how already--I'm going to teach you.  It's the simplest thing in the world, very healthy, and truly a Mexican home staple.  An all-but-boiling bowlful is just the ticket for a warming meal in the winter.

Cocido (Caldo de Res) from Michoacán

Ingredients
1/2 medium white onion
1 large clove garlic
1 medium bay leaf
2-3 Tbsp sea salt
4-5 liters cold water
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) bone-in chambarete (beef shank), cut across the bone
.5 kilo (1 pound) bone-in retazo de res (meaty beef trimmings)

3 or 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
3 or 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks or thick slices
1 middle-size chayote, cut into eighths, seed and all
1 small chile serrano, slit from tip almost to the stem end
4 small calabacitas (or zucchini), cut into thick slices
A quarter kilo (half pound) white cabbage, coarsely cut into chunks
A good-size fistful of cilantro, stems and all
2 or 3 ears of fresh corn, each ear cut into thirds (optional)

To season the broth
3 or 4 red, ripe Roma tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 white onion, cut into chunks
1 small chile serrano (optional)
2 cups cold water

Special equipment
A lidded pot that will hold approximately 14 liters
Long wooden spoon 


Bring 4 or 5 liters water, the half onion, the garlic clove, the salt, and the bay leaf to a boil.


The beef shanks and trimmings, rinsed, patted dry, and ready to go in the pot.


One piece at a time, quickly add the beef to the boiling water.  In just a minute or two, the beef will take on a deep brown color.  


Carrots and calabacita (zucchini), ready to go in the pot.


The other half of the chayote needs to be chopped.  When you're ready to chop the chayote, try to pierce the skin with your fingernail.  If it pierces easily, there's no need to peel the chayote, just chop it skin and all.  The seed is flat, round, white and soft.  The whitest part of the already cut chayote in the photograph is the seed--your knife will slide right through it, no need to remove it and cut it separately.


Coarsely chop the white cabbage.


Peel and cut up the potatoes.  These are the standard white potato in Mexico: the papa Alfa.  I started with three and added another.  You can use a different kind of potato: russet, Yukon Gold, whatever potato you prefer will be delicious.

For the tomato seasoning for the broth: put the coarsely chopped tomato, the 1/4 onion, a clove of garlic, and the chile serrano (if you're using it) into your blender.  Add the 2 cups water.  Cover and blend until smooth.   Pour this mixture into the boiling pot.

Add all of the vegetables, including the cilantro, to the pot.  Allow the pot to return just to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer and cover, leaving the cover slightly ajar.  After 15 minutes cooking, stir the pot--the vegetables will have softened enough to be completely under water.  Simmer for approximately 45 minutes.

Correct the salt. 


Freshly patted tortillas, toasting on a clay comal (griddle).  They're supposed to inflate as they toast!



An all-but-overflowing bowlful of cocido.  The house smelled delicious as it cooked, and the cocido itself was wonderful.  And there's plenty left for the next few tomorrows!

Serve with hot tortillas, with corn tostadas, or with toasted bolillos (white flour, super-dense Mexican rolls).

Serves 4 to 6 as a main dish.

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Comments

[C.M. Mayo]

Believe it or not your post inspired me to make a pot of this today! My suegra calls this "puchero." We squeeze limes into it. Y recalentado, hmmmmm!!!!!!
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I'm so glad you made it--so simple and so delicious. Yes, lots of people call it puchero. Like many things, it has a variety of names. And a squeeze or two of limón is mandatory; a spoonful of salsa molcajeteada is optional.