The winter sun shines brightly in New Mexico even though the air crackles with dry cold, snow covers the mountains, and a north wind can set our teeth to chattering. Winter drives New Mexicans to hearty soups and stews (and to the freezer for the chile we stocked last fall), but getting exact recipes for menudo, posole, mutton stew, and bean soup is never easy: Every cook tosses in a favorite ingredient or has a personal twist on a familiar dish.

Fortunately, New Mexico’s soups and stews are so basic the home cook has plenty of room for variation. For instance, you can vary the kinds of vegetables in mutton stew. Additionally, ordinary soups can assume a New Mexican accent with the use of local ingredients, as I have found when I use Anasazi beans in a family recipe. The beans lend a sweetness to the pasta e fagioli from my Italian heritage.

Jim Gonzales has been making posole and menudo ever since the Barelas Coffee House opened its doors 25 years ago. Today the popular eatery, located in the historic Barelas District south of downtown Albuquerque, stretches from the front counter through several dining areas. Bill Clinton lunched here when he was governor of Arkansas, Senator Joe Leiberman paid a visit during a campaign stop, and actor Edward Olmos has dropped by, but the restaurant’s principal customers are the local New Mexicans and recently arrived Mexican nationals who pack the place for breakfast and lunch.

On an average day, Gonzales uses 8 to 12 cups of hominy for posole and prepares 60 pounds of menudo, a stew made from tripe, or cow stomach. For both dishes, Gonzales uses long, slow cooking and pays old-fashioned, careful attention to ingredients. Making the classic menudo and posole dishes requires several separate steps, although at the end stage, mixing the ingredients together takes just minutes.

Barelas Coffee House Posole
2 c. posole
Water to cover
Soak the posole (dried hominy) overnight. Put into a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil then cook, covered, over very low heat until it is tender and expanded, perhaps 2–3 hours.

Barelas Coffee House Menudo
2 lbs. tripe
2 T. salt
Water to cover
Cut the tripe into one-inch cubes. Wash well, scrubbing with your hands, in at least three changes of water. Put into a pot with salt and water to cover. Bring to a boil then cook, covered, over low heat 5–6 hours, adding more water if necessary to keep the meat submerged. To test for tenderness, take a piece of tripe out of the pot and try to cut it with a fork. Overcooking will cause it to shred.

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