I used to think that ‘mole‘ was the name of the super-rich (almost too rich) dark sauce weirdly containing chocolate.
From my Mexican cooking class I learned that ‘mole’ comes from the indigenous word ‘molli’, describing a thick sauce formed from a complex mix of spices, herbs and other ingredients. Although the classic chocolate mole is possibly the best known, there are many other types of moles including red, yellow, black, green, almond and pumpkin seed.
All moles contain chiles and meat, traditionally turkey, game or iguana, but for classroom purposes, chicken and pork. Other potential ingredients could include almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, garlic, onion, cinnamon, chocolate, dried fruit, spices, herbs and thickeners.
In my UBC Mexican cooking classes we made two (maybe 3) of the famous seven moles of Oaxaca plus a Mole Poblano Sencillo from Puebla. Each link leads to a description of we made each of these traditional Mexican meals…
- Mole Amarillito de Oaxaca, (yellow mole)
Mole Amarillito
- Tesmole de Pollo Mazateco served over rice (I think this is a mole as well, maybe?)
Tesmole de Pollo over rice, Oaxaca-style
- the Mole Coloradito (red mole), also known as mancha manteles (or tablecloth stainer)
Mole Coloradito
- Mole Poblano Sencillo from Puebla (mole negro or black mole)
mole poblano, also known as mole negro
