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Caldo Tlalpeño
(Soup of Tlalpan[1], Mexico)
Serves 6 as a Main Course

Our good friends, Lucy and Gilberto of Mexico City, are responsible for this great soup/stew. Lucy and I have exchanged recipes and discussed cooking over the past few years. I sent her Jacques Pépin's autobiography recently and Lucy responded with her “family” cookbook, Los Rangel: Cocina de familia. Caldo Tlalpeño is the first recipe in this book I have tried. As Los Rangel is entirely in Spanish, Sharon suggested that I look up the recipe on the Internet, where I found various English translations.

This soup was served to Queen Elizabeth at President Reagan’s ranch during her visit there in 1983. The White House chef had asked Craig Claiborne (the late, great New York Times food critic [1920-2000]) to provide a recipe for a light, intensely flavored Mexican soup. This is certainly that.

2 dried chipotle chilies
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove garlic, peeled
6 cups chicken stock
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 chicken breast haves; skinned and boneless; each cut into thirds
1 potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 chayote squash, unpeeled, cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
1 xoconoxtle[2] (optional) (substitute zucchini)
1 cup garbanzo beans; dried and soaked, or canned.
1 small zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup green peas (thawed if frozen)
1 cup white corn (thawed if frozen)
1 Key lime, halved (or regular lime)
1 avocado; spoon-sized chunks (aguacates[3])
6 scallions; sliced into bite sized bits
1 Can of chipotle chilies or hot sauce to your taste
4 sprigs epazote[4] (optional) (substitute cilantro)
Fresh cilantro and mint to your taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large soup pot; fry the 2 dried chilies slowly, turning them over often in the oil until softened and puffed up. The oil should not be too hot or the chilies will burn. 2. While cooking the chilies, dredge the 12 chicken pieces lightly in flour, salt and pepper. In a fry pan heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil and the butter. Brown the chicken well and drain. 3. Place the tomato, onion, garlic and one can of chicken stock in a blender and whirl until pureed. 4. When the chipotle chilies are softened, add the puree to the soup pot, increase the heat and "fry" the mixture until it deepens in color. 5. Add the chicken pieces to the pot, along with more chicken stock as needed (about 2 cups), the cubed potato, chayote squash, xoconoxtle, garbanzo beans and salt. Cover the pot and simmer the soup for 20 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. 6. Then add the zucchini, green beans, white corn, and green peas to the pot and cook 10 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender. 7. Add the epazote, cilantro and mint and stir. 8. Remove the two chipotle chilies from the pot, mince and return it to the soup. 8. Add the canned chipotle chilies and their sauce to the soup to your taste. Heat through and season to taste with more salt and pepper, more chicken stock, and more chilies if needed.

Presentation: 1. Place one piece of chicken breast and one thigh in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle the soup and vegetables on top. Garnish with chopped scallions and sprigs of cilantro. Squeeze lime juice on each serving. Serve with fresh peasant bread and a cold Mexican beer, or a late harvest Gewürztraminer white wine.

Secret Ingredients: I happened to have some pearl onions at hand, which I plunged in boiling water, shocked in cold water, popped out of their skins, and tossed into the soup for the last ten minutes of cooking. I also added one tablespoon of dark brown sugar, which I think rounds out the flavor of the chilies (like chocolate in a mole).

Richard L. Wottrich

[1] Tlalpan (tlahl-pahn), city (1990 pop. 484,866), Tlalpan delegation, Federal dist., central Mexico, 10 mi/16 km S of Mexico city; 19°17'N 99°09'W. Elev. 7,526 ft/2,294 m. Resort and residential suburb on NW slopes of extinct Cerro Ajusco volcano, with orchards, picturesque fountains. Textile- and paper-milling center. Has church of San Agustin de las Cuevas (1532). Anc. Aztec city. Famous Cuicuilco pyramid, 1.5 mi/2.4 km W. Sometimes spelled Tlalpam.
[2] Xoconoxtle Also spelled: xoconostle; a small, sour, pink and green prickly pear cactus.
[3] Aguacates (noun, masc., plural): testicles. (lit) avocados; (Mexican slang)
[4] Epazote pronounced [eh-paw-ZOH-teh] An herb well-known to Mexican and Caribbean cooking. The name comes from the Aztec (Nahuatl) epazotl. It is also known as pigweed or Mexican tea and is frequently regarded as a garden pest. It is most commonly used in black bean recipes to ward off some of the "negative" side affects of eating beans. Much like cilantro, it is referred to as an "acquired taste". Also called wormwood.