SC - Navajo naashjizhih, Zuni chuleya-we, was posole

[Ann Sasahara]

On Fri, 21 Jul 2000, pat fee wrote:
> Yes according to my mundane cousin(Great-greatgrand Dad had a bit of a 
> roming eye) who lives on the Navaho res. in Window Rock New Mexico, this 

I've been out doing fieldwork, so I'm very behind in my mail.
Imagine my surprise to see my office has been moved to NM.  <G> 

> dish has been a staple for as long as any one can remember. The recial 
> memory, handed down from mother to daughter, is a very long one, amoung the 
> people of this region.

Posole is not a Navajo dish.  There is a vaguely similar dish using dried
white corn, called "naashjizhih".  The ladies in the office are telling me
that it's "steamed corn" in English.  You put a couple handfuls of dried
white corn in water and cook overnight in a crock pot.  In the morning you
add mutton, salt and pepper. They say you can add some chile if you want
to. It will take them a while to write down the recipe, because they
measure by eye.  I'll post the recipe when they write it down or you can
use the Zuni one below.

I've had Naashjizhih at the flea market.  The corn opens up like popcorn,
so it looks like posole, but it lacks the pork, red chile, oregano and
hominy that you get in posole in Albuquerque and nearby pueblos: Sandia
and Isleta. All the tribes seem to have their own version of corn stew.

The Zuni also have a dried corn stew: chuleya-we
1 lb dried white corn
2 lbs cubed beef or mutton
1 lb meat bones
2 gallons water
1 tsp salt

The day before, soak the corn.  When the hulls start to come off easily,
put your corn on a grinding stone and crush it until the hulls come off.
Put it all in a pot and cook until the corn opens up like popcorn.

For the Navajo naashjizhih, just leave the meat on the bones.

I have done this recipe with dried blue corn and it's quite good.

> I have her recipe if anyone is interested.

I would love to meet your cousin and swap recipes.  I need to write a
report and head back out by 3pm today, but I'll be back in the office on
Monday 8/7, when she can call me in Window Rock, at tribal extension 7326.
 
> >From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
> >Posole is a hominy stew.  Traditionally, it is served topped with carne
> >adobado, shredded pork cooked in a chili sauce.  The hominy makes up the
> >bulk of the dish, the carne adobado provides flavor and meat.  The dish may
> >originate with the Pueblo Indians.

You're probably right on a pueblo origin, but there doesn't seem to be
just one recipe. At Acoma Pueblo I got potatoes and ground beef in my
posole.  At Laguna Pueblo, I got green chile, instead of red.  At
Christmas at Taos, I had carne adovada in my posole.  There's alot of
variation.  Now, I'm ready for lunch.

HTH

Ariann