Mole Magic

This morning I hit the big market de Abastos and when I say big I ain´t kidding. What do they sell in Abastos? What don´t they sell more like. Come to think of it I didn´t see any exercise bikes, but then this is Mexico not Miami...

Bags, baskets, saddles, animals, food, flowers, ballons, chocolate... Turkeys huddled together on the ground. Mountains of different dried chillies, massive sticks of cinnamon, mole pastes and black magic rubbing shoulders with plastic models of Christ... like I say its Mexico.

Yesterday I was given the heads up on some restaurantes to check out so this afternoon I headed to Los Pacos, famous for its Moles. What can I say, what a delight! For anyone who doesn´t know, mole (pronouced molaye) is a famous feature of Mexican cuisine. These are complex sauces made from ingredients ground (milled) to a fine paste then cooked into a sauce. The art of a good mole is to balance the flavours so that not one is dominant. Quite a feat when you have up to 31 ingredients. There are 7 famous Moles de Oaxaca. Today I tried 6 of them. Only 2 contain chocolate. Mole Negro which really is black and mole colorado which is the colour of red earth. In Restaurante Los Pacos they bring you the 6 moles to try with tortilla so you can decide which you want. Great!

I ate with the owners Paco and Lucy, who are just lovely people. They had some friend there too and we all ate together. I will not be privie to the mole recipes as they are handed down in secret, generation to generation, but they sell the made up paste. Think some of thats coming home with me!

Lucy is going to help me get some recetas caseras - recipes that people cook at home. Things less complex than the moles (which are normally the reserve of festivals and weddings) and more suitable for translating outside of Mexico. She´s invited me to go with her to meet some friends tomorrow evening, so I look forward to that...