Back when I started writing and teaching about Mexican food - back when a class on enchiladas was relevant and very necessary - I never thought I would ever be launching a cooking class on Moles. Over two decades have passed and I'm now noticing more and more interest in this ancient and delicious dish. So Picado is breaking ground again and here goes nothing: We are hosting a Mexican Mole Class!
Mole sauces are a universe within Mexican gastronomy, a very varied and complexed one indeed. At its most basic, a mole is a cooking sauce, it can be thick or thin, spicy or slightly sweeter, it may have chocolate or it may not, and they go from everyday moles with a handful of ingredients that are quick and delicious, to more complex ones for ceremonial times that have 30 plus ingredients and take days and days to make. Moles come in all colours of the rainbow and there are hundreds and hundreds of regional recipes. It is a pre-colonial dish that has gone through a long and elaborate process of adaptation to grace our modern tables still carrying the weight of tradition and history without compromising on flavour. It's a pretty awesome sauce... and that's before we even talk about its evolution and the role of the convent kitchens in the 16th and 17th centuries!
In this workshop, we'll make three different types of traditional Moles: blanco, verde and rojo and all the accompaniments served with them. You'll learn the historical background and the importance of the dish, you'll learn about the techniques and ingredients to make moles and then sit down to enjoy a feast with everything we made.