Oaxaca

Chichilo, Oaxaca’s forgotten classic mole

Chichilo, Oaxaca’s forgotten classic mole

Posted on by Pat and David
Chichilo is perhaps the most unorthodox of Oaxaca's seven classic moles. Thickened with corn masa, it lacks the fatty richness of seeds or nuts. Nor does it boast the sweet and round flavors of the tomatoes, tomatillos, raisins, or plantains found in other moles. The simplicity of chichilo is very similar to a Texas all-meat chili con carne. It consists primarily of meat stewed in a sauce of puréed chile peppers. But chichilo is also one of the Oaxacan ‶burnt″ dishes that get part of their flavor from charred ingredients. Some of those recipes call for blackened onions, fire-roasted tomatoes, or even fire-roasted green chiles with the charred flesh left on. This version of chichilo, adapted from Zarela Martinez's seminal The Food and Life of...Read More
The fruit-laden surprise of manchamanteles

The fruit-laden surprise of manchamanteles

Posted on by Pat and David
We've always thought that part of the appeal of mole poblano to American palates is the sweetness imparted by Mexican chocolate in the sauce. By that standard, manchamanteles should be an even bigger hit. This bright sauce always features chunks of pineapple and fried plantains. We've been curious to try making it since first tasting it in a restaurant years ago. Adapted from recipes by Rick Bayless, Zarela Martinez, and Diana Kennedy, this variant also adds sweet potato pieces to the stew. Some cooks make this classic Oaxacan mole with a dizzying array of chiles and dried fruits. We've opted for a streamlined version of this labor-intensive recipe. In the interest of simplicity, we've specified lard as the cooking fat. Vegetable shortening is a perfectly...Read More
Cradle of Mexican cuisine, Oaxaca relishes mole negro

Cradle of Mexican cuisine, Oaxaca relishes mole negro

Posted on by Pat and David
No one escapes untouched by Oaxaca. This lyrical, magical city has been a powerful cultural and trade center for millennia. It is also arguably the cradle of Mexican cuisine. You can always eat well in Veracruz, Mexico City, and Puebla. But in Oaxaca, you feast. Every dish is a taste revelation. Tomatoes and chile peppers were domesticated in northern Oaxaca around 4500 BC—presumably to spice up all those meals based on beans and corn, which the ancient Oaxacans had domesticated 3,000 years earlier. And Oaxaca continued to expand its larder. By the time the high culture of Monte Alban (right) arose around 500 BC, the Oaxaca Valley was a crossroads of trade between South and North America. Foodstuffs poured in from as far north as...Read More

Mole amarillo for turkey enchiladas

Posted on by Pat and David
Mole amarillo is a classic sauce for Day of the Dead meals in Oaxaca. When we first started visited the Oaxaca region in the 1980s, we already knew the spicy, chocolate-y mole poblano. But of the seven classic moles, the one that really blew us away was the complex, subtle, and tangibly acidic mole amarillo (yellow mole). It was the first taste of travel that we labored to bring home. In those days, that meant growing our own tomatillos and yellow chile peppers and experimenting a lot to get the flavors right. It really does represent the culmination of our garden, which may be why we introduced mole amarillo with enchiladas into our post-Thanksgiving rotation many years ago. It's a perfect way to use to...Read More