This is a very long recipe (it can take three days to make); it is complicated, though the ingredients are commonplace; and it necessitates using only the best. That said, it is a dish that, if you’re successful making it, will wow anyone eating it as few dishes could.

This soup is the definition of hearty. It’s posole (sometimes spelled pozole), once the most common potage of these parts, a simple mix of pork, broth, hominy, chiles, garlic and onion, and Mexican oregano.