It doesn't taste like chocolate. It tastes like two days.
Every week somebody asks if mole is chocolate sauce. Fair question. There's a little Oaxacan chocolate in ours, along with 30 other things. What you taste is smoke, toasted seeds, and chiles we char on purpose.
Smoky, earthy, barely sweet
Fifteen years in, same recipe box
A recipe box from Oaxaca, and the people who keep opening it.
I opened in 2011 with a handful of recipes in my grandmother's handwriting and not much else. The mole is the one she made for every wedding in her pueblo.
The birria came later, from my husband's family in Jalisco. The tamale fold I learned from my mom, standing on a chair. Fifteen years on, the same family is in the kitchen most mornings, and the recipe cards have the grease stains to prove it.
Maria
Two days, start to finish.
Eight steps, in the order they happen. Scroll and watch the pot.
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day one, morning
1 Wake up the chiles.
Chilhuacle, mulato, and pasilla. We pull the stems, shake out the seeds, and keep the seeds for later. Chilhuacles grow in one small corner of Oaxaca, so we treat them nicely.
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day one, late morning
2 Char them on the comal.
Until they're almost black. The kitchen fills with smoke and somebody always coughs. That bitter edge is what makes the mole taste deep later on.
Chiles blackening on the comal
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day one, midday
3 Toast the seeds.
Sesame, almonds, peanuts, and the chile seeds we saved. Each gets its own turn in the pan, because they don't brown at the same speed. Cinnamon, clove, and allspice go last.
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day one, afternoon
4 Fry the sweet things.
Ripe plantain goes in until the edges caramelize. The raisins puff up like little balloons. Tomatoes, onion, and garlic blister right on the comal.
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day one, evening
5 Grind it all together.
A little at a time, until it's a thick paste the color of wet brick. Then it rests overnight. So do we.
Toasted seeds and chiles, ready to grind
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day two, morning
6 Fry the paste.
Into a hot cazuela it goes. We stir until it darkens again and the whole block smells like toast and chiles.
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day two, midday
7 Stock, one ladle at a time.
Then a little Oaxacan chocolate, enough to round off the smoke. You won't taste chocolate. You'd notice if we left it out.
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day two, afternoon into dinner
8 Low heat and a wooden spoon.
Hours of it. It's ready when it coats the spoon and the color has gone from brick red to nearly black. Then it goes over chicken, with tortillas to chase the last of it around the plate.
30-some ingredients. Here are 24.
- chilhuacle chiles
- mulato chiles
- pasilla chiles
- sesame seeds
- almonds
- peanuts
- pecans
- raisins
- ripe plantain
- tomatoes
- tomatillos
- white onion
- garlic
- cinnamon
- clove
- allspice
- black pepper
- cumin
- thyme
- Mexican oregano
- avocado leaf
- a charred tortilla
- Oaxacan chocolate (a little)
- chicken stock
The rest stays in the recipe box.
What the mole sits next to.
Tamales oaxaqueños
Wrapped in banana leaf instead of corn husk. The leaf keeps the masa soft, and it smells a little like green tea when you unfold it. Mole, salsa verde, or rajas with cheese.
Tortillas, pressed by hand
Fresh masa, one ball at a time, onto the same comal that chars the chiles. They puff when they're done. That's how you know.
Your first taste is on us.
Tell your server it's your first time and ask for it on a chip. If you love it, order the plate. If you don't, there's birria.