This is not the first time I have said it and it’s certainly not going to be the last. Mexican food in NYC sucks. There are a few places to get a decent taco but beyond that, it’s the pits. So on my last day in Mexico City, I stopped by a tortilleria and stocked up on a few kilos of tortillas. I was planning to leave it at that but en route to one of our clinics, I stumbled upon an elderly lady dishing up the most amazing tamales I have ever had. As I was devouring my tamal, she made me try a bite of her mole as she listed off the ingredients…sesame paste, cinnamon, countless varieties of chilies and of course chocolate. I was immediately smitten with her potent paste and despite images of mole exploding in my suitcase (which it did), I bought a bundle of it.
Mole is just one of those things that I don’t think I’ll ever attempt to make unless I happen to move to Mexico City and have access to all those fresh ingredients. (Yes, this is foreshadowing.)Reading through what looks like an authentic recipe is overwhelming!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/20/bayless-black-mole-recipe_n_583397.html
As far as jarred brands go, Doña Maria mole is actually quite good if you doctor it up. This time around I had the real thing however and it was fantastic. All I did was boil up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs, pull them apart and mix them with a few spoons of the mole paste and the broth they were boiled in. With a few slices of avocado and some rice, dinner was served. And when I run out of the mole in my kitchen, I can start scraping out the insides of my suitcase.
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