Hungry on Thanksgiving? Join Amano For Free Pozole
Credit James Strange (CC)
For many Mexican families, pozole is a Thanksgiving staple served in place of turkey.
Sal Alamilla, co-owner of the restaurant Amano in Caldwell, has enjoyed just such a feast. It inspired Amano’s 2020 Thanksgiving community event: Pozole for Familias.
All afternoon on Turkey Day, Alamilla’s team handed free bowls of house-made pozole to everyone who stopped by the restaurant. Ladled from a single pot, the stew alleviated loneliness, banished hunger, and brought food-insecure families and business executives together at one steamy table.
“It’s a nice, rich, guajillo [chile] kind of broth with hominy and slow-cooked pork. It’s just delicious. It’s spicy, it’s warm, and it’s comforting,” Alamilla said.
The pozole was free, but diners were invited to donate to Advocates Against Family Violence (AAFV).
This year, Pozole for Familias is back! Amano will serve free stew from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 25. The pay-what-you-want bowls of pozole will benefit Inclusive Idaho (II) — a local nonprofit that builds inclusion for historically excluded groups in the Gem State, like people of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community.
II will use Amano’s donations to create Holiday Survival Kits for low-income families. In December, Executive Director Whitney Mestelle said, many parents struggle to put two extra meals per day on the table for their kids and/or miss work to provide childcare. Each kit will include a $200 grocery gift card, family passes to the YMCA, bus passes for Valley Regional Transit, a $150 basic needs stipend, and a Community Services Resource Guide.
“When we went to the drawing board with this we wanted to do something different than a food drive or coat dive,” she said. “... We wanted to do things that are huge needs that a lot of nonprofits and organizations will not will not do because it's direct aid.”
Inclusive Idaho and PODER of Idaho partnered to make the kits possible. Their goal is to provide 100 kits or more, prioritizing single parents, Boise Community School families, and the Black and Latinx communities.
When we spoke to Alamilla on Nov. 23, he was already planning his pozole prep schedule.
“We make our hominy from our heirloom corn and that has to be done a day ahead of time. You have to soak the hominy, and the next day it's cooked with all of the chiles and the garlic, and you make the soup and incorporate the pork. It takes about 24 hours,” he said.
To snag a bowl, head to Amano between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Turkey Day. Everyone is welcome.
“This is a safe space,” Alamilla said. “People can come in, no questions asked, and enjoy a meal.”
If you can’t attend the event, you can still donate here.
This story was originally published by Project FARE. Read the original here.