Before I have the chance and pleasure to meet Maricel Presilla to talk about her all around take on Latin American cuisine, Gran Cocina Latina (WW Norton, October 2012) here's a recipe excerpted from book.
Andean
Hominy and Pumpkin Seed
Soup
Motepata
During
most of the year, Cuenca is a quiet Andean town,
the temple of Ecuadorian belles lettres, a bastion of
civility. But during the three days of carnival before
Shrove Tuesday, it turns into a madhouse, where
revelers are given carte blanche to soak anyone
who crosses their path. Bakers come out of their
shops armed with big kneading tubs full of water.
Little ladies who otherwise would not dare to
offend anyone reach out from their balconies and gleefully
hurl buckets of water onto any passersby.
Those
who prefer to stay dry plan ahead and stock
up to avoid last-minute trips to the market. They
stay at home, eating home-baked bread and motepata, a succulent soup of mote (hominy) thickened with
pumpkin seeds that is never missing during
carnival. In Spanish, the name sounds as if cow’s
hooves, patas, were involved, but
this is just a
coincidence. The word is actually derived from the
Quechua word for a kindred dish called motepatashca,
in
which mote is cooked down
almost to a mush.
Motepata is
creamy because of the addition of milk
and ground pumpkin seeds.
Cook’s Note: Normally
the mote for
Andean hominy is soaked
overnight before cooking. But if you don’t have time
to do this, you can streamline the process in a pressure
cooker. Place 1 pound Andean corn for mote and
2½ quarts water in the pressure cooker, lock the lid,
and heat over high heat. When the valve begins to whistle,
lower the heat to medium and cook for 1½ hours. Drain.
Serves 6 to 8
For
the Hominy
Andean
Hominy (page 251; see Cook’s Note above for streamlined pressure-cooker method)
For
the Meat
1
pound pork shoulder or boneless butt, cut into 2-inch
pieces, or meaty boneless pork chops
2
quarts water
1
tablespoon salt
1
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For
the Cooking Sauce
3
tablespoons achiote-infused corn oil (page 89)
3
garlic cloves, finely chopped
½
small white onion, finely chopped
½
small red onion, finely chopped
½
teaspoon ground cumin
1
teaspoon salt
½
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For
the Thickener
1½
cups whole milk
1⁄3
cup hulled pumpkin seeds (about 1½ ounces), roasted
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Preparing the Hominy ▶__Prepare
the mote by either the
traditional or the pressure-cooker method. Set aside.
Cooking the Meats ▶__Place
the pork, water, salt, and
pepper in a medium pot and cook, covered,
over
medium heat until fork-tender, about 1¼ hours if using pork shoulder or butt,
45 minutes if using
pork
chops.
Preparing the Cooking Sauce ▶__Heat
the oil in a 12-inch
skillet over medium heat until rippling. Add
the
garlic and sauté until golden, about 20 seconds.
Add
the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the cumin, salt, and pepper and cook for
1 more minute. Remove from the heat.
When
the meat is tender, stir the sauce into the pot
and add the hominy. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Meanwhile,
place the milk and pumpkin seeds in
a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Finishing the Soup ▶__Stir
the pumpkin seed mixture into
the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook,
covered,
for 20 to 25 minutes, until the soup thickens lightly.
Sprinkle with the oregano just before
serving.
Serve in soup bowls, with Cuenca’s White Sandwich Rolls (page 589).
(* Recipe from 'Gran Cocina Latina' by Maricel Presilla- WW Norton, October 2012- reproduced with permission of the publisher)