Trips, Food and Fun: The triad of happiness Welcome to my journal, my aim is to share concealed details of some of my trips

Passport & Plate - Mute soup

Japan | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
a) Two pounds of veal shanks

b) Two pounds of beef short ribs

c) One pound of beef or goat tripe.

d) One pound of beef omasum

e) One pound of pork loin

f) Two pounds of white corn

g) One pound of potatoes

H) One pound of peeled and chopped pumpkin

i) One medium-sized eggplant

j) One medium-sized carrot

k) Half a pound of chickpeas

l) Fifteen leaves of culantro

m) Four regular size scallions

n) Two large onions

o) Seven cloves of garlic

p) Three mid-sized andean creole celery

q) Two tablespoons of powdered coriander

r) One tablespoon of salt

s) A quarter of a pound of Ditalini (short-cut extruded pasta)

t) Chicken or hen consomme

 

How to prepare this recipe


Prior to preparing the Mute soup, two critical steps must be followed: (day zero)

1) Use a large lemon or a sour orange to carefully rinse the omasum and trip. Also meticulous cleaning and peeling of the veal shanks is needed.

2) At least 24 hours before preparing the soup the corn and chickpeas must be soaked in separate water containers, however they must be boiled together.

Day of the preparation:
Step 1: Mince the pork loin and the short beef ribs and put them into a large cooking pot. Pour water until covering them and simmer them until they boil.

Step 2: In a separate cooking pot add the culantro leaves, cut into strips scallions, chopped onions, diced Andean celery, chopped pumpking, diced eegplant and carrot. Next add the previously soaked and strained white corn and chickpeas.

Step 3: Put the omasum and the tripe into a pressure cooker. Simmer for 30 minutes. Mince and add to the previous preparation.

Step 4: Simmer the veal shanks using a pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Chop and keep the resulting broth. Put the chopped shanks and the broth into the large pot used in step 1.

Step 5: Then we add the peeled and diced potatoes, the cloves of garlic, the chicken or hen consomme and simmer this mixture for 30 minutes. 10 minutes before finishing cooking this preparation, add the ditalini in order to thicken the soup. Correct the seasoning as nedded by adding salt.

Step 6: Finally, add the poweded coriander and serve hot. Enjoy the mute soup!

 

The story behind this recipe
Amidst mountain ranges towering 14000 feet, intrincate valleys and deep russet canyons, the region of the Santanderes in northeast Colombia has been the epicenter of not only historical landmarks in the Country, but also the cradle of one of the most fascinating culinary miscegenations that has kept up with what the history of this area has been.

During colonial times the natives witnessed an influx of Europeans and of course, their food. The traditional staple tubercles cultivated in the highlands that nourished the Guane indians for centuries melted with then unkown ingredients introduced by the newly arrived friends.

The colonizers contributed the the settlement of what would become prosperous town and cities, which was not an easy task: the difficult geography and then-nonexisting roads made communication extremely difficult, demanding long hours of muleback rides, almost endless walks and strenuous physical work that would literally consume thousands of calories that needed to be replaced, and in what a way!

All these facts gave birth to a soup that resulted from the mixture of unthinkable ingredients to give the locals their distinct temper, strength and tenacity to overcome the many adversities they have endured for years.

Mute (pronounced mooteh) is a thick toothsome caloric soup that incorporates almost all of the existing food groups: veggies, meats, and grains. Mute has been enffeofed to every family generation and has become the culinary pride of the Santanderes. Each family holds a secret recipe that makes it different from other versions. Leisure days, special celebrations and even if you are a first time visitor to the region are all excuses to relax and have a delicious bowl of mute.

Mute summarizes what the Santanderes and most of Colombia has been: the result of a fascinating racial, cultural and culinary mixture.

I myself have my own secret weapons to make you go mute with mute soup, but nothing compares to my grandma's recipe.