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Nativity

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The Battle of the "Moles"

I have mentioned that Oaxaca is famous for its "moles", the rich, Mexican sauces, and that it is known as  the "Land of the Seven Moles".  Earlier on this trip, Jane and I both had the "mole negro", the most famous of the Oaxacan "moles".  A couple nights ago, I had the "mole almendrado", an almond sauce.

Last night we went to another restaurant which specializes in traditional Oaxacan cuisine, "La Casa de la Abuela" (Grandmother's House).  I ordered the "mole coloradito" served over pork.  This sauce is made from chile peppers, sesame seeds, almonds, raisins, bananas. and tomatoes.  It was delicious... and I now think that it might be my favorite.  I was now up to three "moles" on this trip.

Jane, however, ordered the "mole" sampler which consisted of four different "moles" served over chicken with rice.  Going clockwise from the upper left hand corner of the plate, she had "almendrado", "mole verde" (green "mole"), "mole amarillo" (yellow "mole") and "coloradito".



That means that Jane is now up to five "moles"... as opposed to my three.  She is winning the battle of the "moles".

Our restaurant last night was another place with a beautiful view.  This was the view of the Cathedral from our table.

 

3 comments:

  1. I have eaten there as well and enjoyed it immensely. There is a world renowned chef in Oaxaca, Suzanna Trilling who has a cooking school Seasons of My Heart. She has been featured for years on a PBS series as well. I learned to make mole amaryllia with Suzanna. The comment, "it takes a village" was definitely true in that case. It took about eight hours. I've never made it since, but, do as you are doing, eat it in a restaurant. I love all the chocolate houses in Oaxaca for chocolate caliente. YUM.

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    Replies
    1. Tomorrow we are taking a cooking class... but a different school, "Casa de los Sabores" run by chef Pilar Cabrera. I took a class there several years ago.

      The very best hot chocolate I've had so far was at the restaurant run by the chocolate company Mayordomo.

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  2. An authentic mole is a lot of work with a huge number of ingredients. Sometime I'll have to tell the recipe I concocted for a quick "faux" mole. Purists would be aghast... but Alejandro says he likes it.

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