Caldo de res or puchero: the Mexican stew with marrow and vegetables

What is it?

Caldo de res, also known as puchero or cocido, is one of the most deeply rooted family broths in Mexican cuisine. Its base is large pieces of beef, shin with bone, skirt, rib, chuck, slowly simmered with marrow (bone marrow), along with a full assortment of vegetables: sweetcorn in chunks, potato, carrot, courgette, chayote, green beans, cabbage and, occasionally, chickpea. The broth turns out golden, deeply savoury and yields a lot. It is served with lime, coriander, chopped onion, raw serrano chilli or molcajete salsa, white rice on the side and hot tortillas. It is the Sunday dish of Mexican households, especially in the north (Sonora, Sinaloa, Nuevo Leon), where it is known as cocido, and in the centre as caldo de res or puchero. Larousse Cocina and Mexico en mi Cocina document it as one of the most yielding and nutritious broths of the national repertoire, ideal for feeding large families.

Origin and history

Caldo de res is the direct heir of Madrid cocido and the Spanish peninsular pucheros, brought to Mexico in the conquest of the 16th century along with cattle-raising. In Spain, cocido, Andalusian puchero and olla podrida were already central dishes of the repertoire from the Middle Ages. In New Spain, Creole and mestizo cooks adapted the peninsular cocido replacing the chickpea with new American vegetables, sweetcorn, squash, chayote, potato, and adding coriander, raw onion and chilli as final accompaniments. Larousse Cocina catalogues it as one of the 'long broths' of the Mexican repertoire. Each region developed its variant: the Yucatecan puchero includes sweet potato, plantain, chayote and is served with red onion pickled in escabeche; the Sonoran cocido includes chickpea and is served with flour tortilla; the central caldo de res includes the vegetables of the Valley of Mexico. By the 19th century it already appeared in books such as El Cocinero Mexicano (1831), one of the first printed recipe books of independent Mexico, as a Sunday dish of bourgeois homes. Today it is a national family ritual.

Characteristic ingredients

The beef cuts used are the most collagen-rich so they bring flavour to the broth: shin with bone, rib, chuck, skirt and, above all, marrow bones, the heart of the dish. They are boiled in water with onion, garlic and salt for an hour and a half to two before adding vegetables. The sweetcorn is cut into thick rounds with the cob; the carrot, potato and chayote in large pieces; the courgette and green beans are added at the end so they do not fall apart. Cabbage is added at the last minute. The herbs used are whole coriander, a sprig of mint and sometimes celery. Some versions have blended tomato for colour, others prefer a clean golden broth. The marrow is served separately in the bone rounds for spreading on tortilla and seasoning with salt and lime. Regional variants: in Sonora previously soaked dried chickpea is added; in Sinaloa courgette and sweetcorn are protagonists; in Yucatan it is sweeter from plantain and sweet potato. The final broth must be golden, not red, and clean of impurities (skimmed during cooking).

Cultural significance

Caldo de res is one of the most yielding and beloved dishes at the Mexican family table. Sociologically, it is a dish for Sundays and large gatherings: with one or two kilos of beef 8 to 12 people can be fed. The 2010 UNESCO inscription of traditional Mexican cuisine implicitly includes this corpus of mestizo broths as part of the national gastronomic system that combines European ingredients (beef, chickpea) with American ones (chilli, tomato, sweetcorn, chayote). In northern Mexico cocido is a Sunday ritual comparable to menudo; in Yucatan puchero forms part of the peninsular repertoire alongside queso relleno and sopa de lima. In popular culture, caldo de res appears as comforting grandma's food, a 'simple-party' dish and a hospitality meal for visitors. Chefs such as Patricia Quintana, Margarita Carrillo and Gabriela Camara have documented it in their books. It also appears in the film Como Agua para Chocolate (1992) as an example of ranch cooking of the late 19th century. The industry of concentrated stock cubes (Knorr, Maggi) sustains a faster and more accessible version, although the original home-made version remains the ideal.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between caldo de res, puchero and cocido?

They are basically the same dish with regional names. 'Caldo de res' is the generic name of central Mexico; 'puchero' is used in Yucatan, Veracruz and parts of Spain; 'cocido' is the term of the north (Sonora, Nuevo Leon). The regional variants change the vegetables, Yucatan adds plantain and sweet potato, Sonora adds chickpea, but the idea of boiled beef with large vegetables is the same.

What does caldo de res taste like?

It tastes of deeply seasoned, golden beef, with sweet vegetables (carrot, sweetcorn, chayote) and an earthy background from the marrow that comes out of the bone. The coriander and raw onion on serving contribute freshness; lime brings out the flavours. It is a clean golden broth, not spicy in itself, the heat is added with serrano chilli or salsa to taste, and deeply comforting.

How is caldo de res served?

It is served very hot in a large deep bowl with the pieces of meat, the marrow bones and the whole vegetables. White rice, halved limes, chopped coriander, white onion, chopped serrano chilli or molcajete salsa and hot tortillas are offered separately. It is common to spread the marrow on the tortilla with salt and lime. It is a single dish for a Sunday meal or a strong family meal.

Where is caldo de res originally from?

It is native to Mexico but directly inherits from Madrid cocido and the Spanish peninsular pucheros of the 16th century. Cattle-raising arrived with the conquest and was combined with American vegetables (sweetcorn, chayote, potato, squash). The dish was consolidated as a mestizo broth during the colonial period and appears documented in El Cocinero Mexicano (1831). Today it is a national family dish with variants in each region.