During the holidays, different cultures celebrate their unique traditions. One of the fondest memories I have as a kid during December is of my mom and grandmother cooking menudo for the morning of New Year’s Day.

If you’re unfamiliar with the dish, menudo is a traditional soup usually only served on weekends at Mexican restaurants and in homes. During holidays like Christmas and New Year’s, the dish is served as comfort food for hangovers.

Menudo is seen as the go to hangover cure in Mexican culture, pushing Pedialyte and greasy foods to the side.

In Eugene, Mexican restaurants serve menudo year-round, but they expect to serve even more of the red soup as the holidays roll around. Mama Mayra’s kitchen in the Whiteaker neighborhood offers a home-cooked style of menudo that is perfect for a weekend morning. The dish is made with cow stomach and served in a red chili pepper broth.

Owner Mayra Mevina has operated the restaurant since 2016. It began as a loncherita, a smaller restaurant which serves quick meals and dishes, and has since expanded. Mevina enjoyed menudo as a Sunday tradition in her family in Mexico, and now she takes great pride in serving it at Mama Mayra’s in Eugene.

“Every Sunday in Mexico our family reunites from work during the week,” Mevina said. “It’s something that people here in the states eat and say, it reminds me of my grandparents of my aunts, uncles.”

Mevina described the restaurant’s process of preparing menudo. They begin by washing the cow stomach and then swiftly cutting the beef stomach into small squares. For Mevina, the key to good menudo lies in how well the stomach is taken care of.

“If the meat is really dark, the odor is very strong, so it’s very important to have a good color,” Mevina said.

The cooking process takes around an hour and a half, and garlic and onion is added to bring the broth a rich flavor. What gives the soup its recognizable red color is the use of Guajillo chiles. Don’t worry if you aren’t big on spice, as these chiles are fairly medium on spice level.

Extra flavor is added to menudo by adding cow feet to the broth. “That’s the secret,” Mevina said.

Restaurants Las Morenas Taqueria and Tacos Mex are also spots in Eugene that serve the popular weekend dish.

Menudo is a strong and hearty soup, but the family environment at the restaurant is what makes it special. So wherever you are this holiday season, reconnect with your friends and family over good food. Share a meal with those people you haven’t seen in a while. Good food and traditions bring us together in a unique way.