Unlike us, Mexicans don't gorge on dairy chocolate for Easter; if you too are tired of over-indulging in chocolate products full of milk and sugar, ditch the chocolate bunnies and try some Mexican "chocolate" chicken instead.
One of the favourite sayings of my grandfather, a francophile and a gourmet, was: "Chocolate is nice, cheese is nice. So how much nicer must cheese and chocolate be?" We would laugh at his little lesson in good taste and I went along with the European idea that chocolate was simply a sweet food for a long time. That is, I did so until I tried mole.
One legend is that mole was invented in Puebla, Mexico about 300 years ago. A bishop was coming to lunch and as the nuns hurriedly made the final preparations for the meal they were about to serve him, a tablet of chocolate accidentally fell into the sauce. It was too late for a change of plans, so the nun in charge simply carried on stirring in the sweet chocolate. They gave the dish to the bishop, hoping for the best, and to everyone's surprise he loved it, and savoury cooking with chocolate began.
But mole is not exactly a "chocolate" sauce. Mexicans will laugh at the idea that it is. Chocolate is just one of the many ingredients which go into mole, together with chillies, dried fruits, nuts, herbs and spices. Mole also gets its blackness from the addition of mulatto chilli. Mole is typically served at weddings, baptisms and to house-guests and the reason why I never tire of it is because the taste varies so much. Sometimes it is sweet, sometimes spicier, sometimes bitter and occasionally a little too oily. There are many kinds of mole: almond mole, green mole, black mole, red mole, mole from Puebla, mole from Oaxaca and every mole stand has his very own "special occasion" mole.
I can't say I have tried them all, but the best mole I have tried was made in a small restaurant in Orapondiro, Michoacan. Orapondiro (lovely name, isn't it?) which specialises in making mole the traditional way; when we visited they cooked everything for us on wood fires in an open kitchen. We watched how they mixed the mole up in a huge clay pot and then ladled the black sauce over the cooked turkey, sprinkling roasted sesame seed on top as a garnish. They served us the mole with Mexican rice (which is lovely and moist, fried and then cooked in a tomato and onion sauce), refried beans and with thick, soft and slightly charred tortillas. The handmade tortillas were slapped onto the sides of a clay oven and after they had puffed up, they were peeled off and passed over to us, steaming hot in little baskets covered with embroidered napkins.
Be very careful when you eat mole. Mole, in a tortilla and in the hands of an amateur, will drip and stain forever.
A week ago I was sent a gift of mole from a village in Oaxaca. The packet looked and felt like a small and heavy bag of peat. I am surprised it managed to get past customs. It was cool to the touch and fragrant and smelt of tar, tobacco, cinnamon bark and sandalwood. When we cooked the mole it tasted loamy, of volcanic earth - This mole was complex and sweet and helped fortify us against London's chilly Easter weather.
Chicken Mole
500g of mole paste or mixture*
1 large chicken
1 large onion
4 carrots
1/3 litre of chicken stock
Cut a large chicken into pieces, remove the skin and boil the chicken pieces with the onions and carrots in slightly salted water until they are cooked through. Fry the mole paste in a little oil or lard until it looks a slightly grainy, then gradually incorporate 1/3 of a litre of chicken stock.
Place a piece of boiled chicken on each plate and pour the mole sauce over it. Sprinkle a little roast sesame seed on top. Finally, serve with rice, refried beans, hot tortillas and a side salad.
*Mexicans don't usually make mole at home. They buy it in the form of a paste or mixture at the market. You can get it from casamexico.co.uk here in the UK.
To paraphrase my grandfather: "Chocolate is nice, chicken is nice, so how much nicer must chocolate with chicken be?" I wonder if I could have brought him round to the idea. I doubt it. And how convinced are you by the idea of chocolate as a savoury ingredient?
Happy 71st birthday mom. We love you. Hugs and kisses from everyone.
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