History Of Mexico's Most Famous Culinary Preparation:
The Search for the Truth about the
Origins of Mole Poblano, and more…
The origin of mole poblano, the thick,
rich, chocolate-tinged sauce made so famous in the colonial mountain
city of Puebla, Mexico, is still disputed, but generally involves
these two versions of the legend:
The first says that 16th
Century nuns from the Convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla de los Angeles,
upon learning that the Archbishop was coming for a visit, went into a
panic because they had nothing to serve him. The nuns started praying
desperately and an angel came to inspire them. They began chopping
and grinding and roasting, mixing different types of chiles together
with spices, day-old bread, nuts, a little chocolate and
approximately 20 other ingredients..
This concoction boiled for hours and
was reduced to the thick, sweet, rich and fragrant mole sauce we know
today. To serve in the mole, they killed the only meat they had, an
old turkey, and the strange sauce was poured over it. The archbishop
was more than happy with his banquet and the nuns saved face. Little
did they know they were creating the Mexican National dish for
holidays and feasts, and that today, millions of people worldwide
have at least heard of mole poblano.
The other legend states that mole came
from pre-hispanic times and that Aztec king, Moctezuma, thinking the
conquistadors were gods, served mole to Cortez at a banquet to
receive them. This story probably gained credibility because the word
mole comes from the Nahuatl word “milli” which means
sauce or “concoction”. Another connection could be that
chocolate was widely used in pre-columbian mexico, so people jumped
to that conclusion.
Diana Kennedy, the famous cookbook
author and television chef, adds a third, less plausible version in
her book The Cuisines of Mexico, [Harper & Row:New York]
1972, (p.199-200), “This time it was Fray Pascual who was
preparing the banquet at the convent where he (the archbishop) was
going to eat. Turkeys were cooking in cazuelas on the fire; as Fray
Pascual, scolding his assistants for their untidiness, gathered up al
the spices they had been using, and putting them together on a tray,
a sudden gust of wind swept across the kitchen and they spilled over
the cazuelas.” Thus mixing together such an unheard-of
combination of ingredients.
What do the real experts say? “The
idea of using chocolate as a flavoring in cooked food would have
been horrifying to the Aztecs—just as Christians could not
conceive of using communion wine to make, say, coq au vin. In all the
pages of Sahagun that deal with Aztec cuisine and with chocolate,
there is not a hint that it ever entered into an Aztec dish. Yet,
today many food writers and gourmets consider one particular dish,
the famous pavo in mole poblano, which contains chocolate, to
represent the pinnacle of the Mexican cooking tradition. …the
place of origin of the dish and its sauce, the Colonial Puebla de los
Angeles; this beautiful city, unlike others in central Mexico, has no
Aztec foundations – and neither does the dish, regardless of
what food writers may say.” Taken from The True History of
Chocolate, Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe [Thames and Hudson:
London] 1996 (p. 216-7).
There is no greater expert on
pre-hispanic Mesoamerica than Michael Coe and this detective is
convinced. Case closed (for now) on the mystery of the origins
of mole poblano.
THE OTHER MOLES
No story about mole poblano would be
complete without talking a little bit about the other moles. There is
a lot of misinformation about mole out there, in general. Most
culinary experts agree, there are 6 moles and as Susana Trilling
describes in her book, My Search for the Seventh Mole: A story
with Recipes from Oaxaca, Mexico, [self-published, 1997], she is
looking for that elusive seventh mole. Does she find it? You’ll
have to read the book to find out, and the recipes are fantastic, so
you can try your own mole at home, if you dare.
All moles are very time consuming,
labor intensive and require many ingredients. Some sources state that
some moles have as many as 100 ingredients, but that’s an
exaggeration. But 30 ingredients is not unheard of, and some mole
recipes contain 10 different varieties of chiles alone. Other
ingredients include: peanuts, almonds, fried bread, plantains, lard,
sugar, bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, cloves and many more.
Each Mexican woman has her own mole
recipe, probably passed down from her mother. Because mole takes so
much time to prepare, it is usually made in huge batches, too large
for the home blender to handle. Therefore, women take their mole
ingredients, all cooked and ready to blend, to large “molinos”
or grinders in their neighborhood. The mole is passed through the
grinders and comes out smoother than you could get from your home
blender. It’s not an unusual site to see women walking home
from the molinos with buckets of mole for a fiesta.
And be sure to have plenty of napkins
nearby when eating any mole. As you dip your warm, homemade tortilla
into the wonderful sauce, you are bound to take some home with you on
your shirt, your arms and under your fingernails. Now you know you’re
enjoying mole!
OTHER “MUST TRY WHEN IN
PUEBLA” TYPICAL DISHES
CHILES EN NOGADA – The
name comes from the Spanish word for walnut, “nogal”.
There are several excellent recipes for Chiles en Nogada on the
internet, if you’re interested in making it. It consists of a
large chile poblano stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, walnuts,
veggies, sherry or brandy and other ingredients. It is covered with a
creamy sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. This is the meal that
was used to celebrate Mexico’s 100 years of Independence
because of its colors, the green chile, the while sauce and the red
seeds, it pays homage to the Mexican flag. It is a seasonal dish and
only served for the several months that the ingredients are fresh. It
is suggested that chiles en nogada was born from the French influence
from when Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maxamillian took over Puebla.
They were later defeated by the Mexicans in the battle of Cinco de Mayo.
Chiles en Nogada can be quite expensive because of the pricey ingredients and
large sizeof the chile poblano.
CHALUPAS - The real chalupas
are nothing like taco bell’s version! Chalupas are usually
served in taco shops or from street vendors. They are small, thick
tortillas, usually served in a stack, they come 3 with a red salsa,
and 3 with a green salsa. Sometimes you can add a meat topping or a
little cheese.
CEMITAS – Cemitas are
Puebla’s version of a sandwich. Unlike the popular torta,
cemitas are sandwiches made with a different type of roll, a sort of
egg bread, with sesame seeds on top. They include a meat of your
choice; milanesa (beef steak pounded thin and fried), pierna (pork
leg which carnitas is made from also), chicken or sometimes cheese.
The most interesting thing about a cemita is the local, green leaves
they put on the sandwich instead of lettuce. It is called
papalo and has an unusual bitterish flavor that compliments
the cemita. Cemitas are very inexpensive and tasty.
ROMPOPE- This creamy, thick
liqueur is reminiscent of eggnog, and also contains rum. It too is
said to have first been made by the nuns in Puebla! (can this be
true?) and the best-selling Mexican brand, Santa Clara, has a picture
of nuns on the bottle! What were nuns doing inventing liqueur?
Anyway, it is delicious and is also usually drunk around the
Christmas holidays.
DULCES (CAMOTES)- Last but
certainly not least, no story about Puebla treats would be complete
without mentioning the sweets!!! The camote (or sweet potato) candy
is unique to Puebla. In fact, Poblano men are referred to as
“camotes”. They are everywhere! And they are still made
in the traditional way, rolling each candy by hand after it has been
cooked and perhaps had a fruit flavor added. And yet again, the
camotes are said to have been first made by the nuns of the convent
Santa Clara. What was up with the nuns of Puebla and inventing
fascinating dishes? (perhaps that’s the next investigation!)
There are entire streets dedicated to “dulces” in Puebla.
They are amazing, colorful and fun places to shop, with windows full
of dozens of different candies, gift baskets of every size and shape,
and samples! A perfect gift to take home for friends and family, but
make sure to get a basket for yourself too, the dulces are too
tempting and Mom’s souvenir basket just might not make it home!
OTHER DISHES YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY
BUT YOU MIGHT NOT!!- Gusanos de maguey, worms from the agave
plant, and escamoles, ant larvae that are harvested from the roots
of the agave or maguey plant (the one that tequila and mescal come
from). These are considered “delicacies” and are served
only when in season. Some adventurous types will want to try these;
“when in Rome…”
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Mole Poblano
Poblano Kitchen
Dulcerķa
Display of Packaged Dulces
Chiles En Nogada
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