Mexican cooking class featuring a menu from Puebla

This menu is from my Mexican cooking class featuring the foods of the state of  Puebla.

My favourite dish of the evening was the ‘sopa poblano‘, a creamy almost vegetarian soup to die for. Served along with the soup was an appetizer, quite unusual (and delicious), molotes de Zacatlán de las Manzanas, and for dipping, ‘salsa martajada‘, a charred jalapeño and tomato salsa traditionally ground in a mojalcate.

Puebla-style creamy soup, along with molotes and for dipping, salsa martajada

The main course, the ‘sencillo‘ (simple) mole, used almost 50 chiles along with tiny amounts (in comparison) of other spices, all ground into a paste and poured over the chicken that had provided the soup base. It was accompanied with ‘arroz a la mexicana‘, and to drink, a slightly slimy but refreshing chia ‘agua fresca‘.

• some of the ingredients that went into the ‘sopa poblano‘, a creamy almost vegetarian soup
  

  ingredients for the Sopa Poblano

• ‘sopa poblano‘, my favourite dish of the evening. ¡Muy sabroso!
  

  creamy Puebla-style soup

• the molotes being prepared. Masa, corn flour, is mixed with a chipotle puree to form a spicy dough. It is filled with slivers of serrano, panela cheese (like feta) and thinly sliced onion. Shaped into an oblong shape and deep-fried until pale red, it is usually served with a fresh salsa.
  

  molotes being prepared

• ‘salsa martajada‘, a charred jalapeño and tomato salsa
  

  ‘salsa martajada‘ for the molletes

• I was also rather fond of the slimy ‘chia fresca‘ (chia seeds available at the grainery on Granville Island). The chia seeds were added to a fresh limonada base. Salvia hispanica or chia, is a species of plant from the mint family, and is native to México y Guatemala. The seeds of the chia, apart from making excellent ‘chia pets’, are one of the richest sources of omega-3 oils, but must be soaked in water for an hour to allow the oil to be released.
  

  Chia lemonade in a glass

• Mexican-style rice and ‘sencillo’ (simple) chicken mole Puebla-style, topped with toasted sesame seeds (recipe)
  

  Mole poblano con arroz a la mexicana