“Menu is always good. There is good Menudo and there is better Menudo.”
This statement was from Arnold Jimenez, Coachella Police Chief and judge at the 1982 California State Championship Menudo Cookoff held in Indio.
Menudo cooks are bearers of tradition, adding a pinch of this or that as their mothers and grandmothers did. Therefore, cooking skill, rather than innovation, was the key to winning the cooking contest.
The basic elements of Menudo are tripe, pork or beef meal, and ground corn. Some cooks prepare Menudo Rojo, coloring the soup with chili powder and/or sauce. Others prefer to leave it white. Seasonings may include onion, garlic and oregano. Garnishes can be oregano, cilantro, lime wedges, chopped onion, and sometimes fresh or crushed chiles or a hot sauce.
This recipe comes from Bill Torrez of San Diego. He competed in the championship division of the 1982 cooking contest.
This recipe appeared in a pre-Internet article by the late Times Food writer Barbara Hansen titled “Traditional Spice Contest in Indio: Mexican-Americans Take Menudo Seriously,” published on December 9, 1982.
