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Mexican Mole 101 By Madelyn Miller, the Travellady |
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The mole is undoubtedly one of the stellar dishes of Mexican cuisine. This slow-cooked stew cooking started in pre-Hispanic times and was refined during the Conquest. Pre-Columbian Mexico had a wide variety of foods prepared with different types of chiles, and chile sauces were a main ingredient in the Mexican menu. The Aztecs prepared a dish called mulli, a kind of porridge or highly complex mixture that included chocolate and various kinds of chiles. According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the word derives from the pre-Hispanic term mulli Nahua, which means sauce. When the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, their new spices were added to the traditional mulli. Thus was born the mestizo mole. The most famous is the Mole Poblano, created in 1680 in the kitchen of the Convent of Santa Rosa in Pueblo de los Angeles. During the visit of the Viceroy of New Spain, Bishop Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz asked Sor Andrea de la Asuncion to entertain the Viceroy with an original stew. In the kitchen of the convent, with Talavera tiles and big pots of mud, Sor Andrea decided to combine the luxuries of New Spain in one dish made with the spirit of the baroque poblano. She ground several chiles, spices brought from Europe, chocolate, tortilla, tomato and onions plus about a hundred other ingredients. The result was served to the Viceroy with tender turkey. The dish was a spectacular success. Since then, convents have created their own signature recipes for mole. In Mexico, this thick sauce is still prepared with different chiles, spices and other ingredients in a stew of turkey, chicken or pork. Mole Poblano The correct proportions are up to the chef. Some ingredients car be omitted or varied in proportions. Recommended beverage: Tequila or damiana liqueur. Sample recipe for mole poblano (red): |
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On past trips to Mexico, I have tasted the
traditional mole. But now after several days at the Hacienda Tres
Rios in the Riviera Maya, I am empowered. I learned to make red,
green and black moles from Chef Oliver Oscar Orbe Quiroz. And we
even did a vertical tasting of moles with chicken and cheese and
onions and more.
1 turkey