The Basic Recipe and History

• El Puchero or "Pooch" might win contests for being the most basic recipe on the planet. At its most rudimentary form, all that's required to make a batch is to mix bread, stewed tomatoes and sugar. It's easy to see why American cowboys adopted this recipe as their own; they could mix up a batch with just the staples they brought along on the trail. Once known only to cooks in Latin cultures, Pooch became a favorite of gringos as contact between Americans and Mexicans evolved. The recipe passed between cowboys and by the 1600s it was as popular in the U.S. as it was in its country of origin.
  
  

The Recipe Grows

• Now a well-known stew laced with more beef, lamb, ham or bacon than vegetables, the recipe for Pooch grew in direct proportion to tastes and available ingredients. Some cultures added chick peas that had been cooked in oil with garlic, onions and spices. Others laced their recipes with chorizo before all of the ingredients were boiled down to a chunky, flavorful stew. It was around this time that Pooch became a two-course meal. Solids were strained and the Pooch gravy or soup was ladled into bowls and served first, then heaping plates of meat and vegetables followed.
  
  

Regional Variations

• No two countries shared a common recipe for Pooch and within 100 years of the beginning of this recipe's dissemination, only the sugar, tomatoes and bread remained of the original. For example, Peruvians prepared the basic mix, then added cassava root, yams, cabbage and turnips with beef, mutton, fowl, ham, sausage and smoked meats. Speaking to the popularity of leftovers, rice and other previous meal remnants were regularly tossed in the pot, too.
  
  

Pooch in the 1900s

• Cattle drives changed the eating habits of cowboys in the rural southwest because of the availability of meat, so Pooch took on the role of "dessert" around this time. The sweet, sugar-laced soup that was so popular, it became custom to say, "You just got a pay raise" when handing out a bowl of the dessert.
  With the 1930s, Depression fall-out triggered a return to cheap dishes that retained their flavorful nature but could stand alone without the addition of meat, so once again, Pooch found its way to the world's dinner table. Typically, a meal would consist of Pooch using the standard tomato/sugar/bread base, infused with beans for protein and sowbelly (bacon)---if one could afford a piece---for flavoring. Gallons of relatively cheap coffee completed the feast.
  
  

The Romance of Contemporary Pooch

• The pairing of sugar, tomato and bread has remained a constant in every recipe of Pooch, regardless of where it's prepared. What has changed is the elevation of this earthy recipe to one prepared and served in gourmet kitchens and restaurants around the globe. Chefs are adding El Puchero to menus, though most continue to revise and experiment with the blend to suit changing tastes and ingredient availability. Happily, the folklore that resides within the basic notion of this landmark stew won't ever disappear, so next time you visit a restaurant that serves El Puchero, skip the rest of the menu and choose it. You won't be disappointed.