December 1, 2012: Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden class on mole sauce taught by Amy Valdés Schwemm of Mano y Metate. (This, BTW, is a molcajete - mortar and pestle - and inside is the little brush one can use to clean it.)
Bad picture (I was having trouble with my camera) of Amy and her mano and metate. These belonged to her great-grandmother and Amy isn't sure how long they'd been around before that. Amy notes that mole is " a slice of history," but also an "evolving dish. It evolves in many ways: across time and based on the ingredients available to and preferences of different generations of cooks. But also the dish itself evolves as it cooks and develops flavors over time.
While Fresh-Picked Seattle readers might not be able to take this class locally, you can still visit Amy's website for recipes or to order her mole powders made with many organic ingredients and no GMOs. Check out her website. http://www.manoymetate.com/ She recommends using the mole dulce in Alton Brown's brownie recipe - am looking forward to trying this.
Class started with a cup of cinnamon tea served by Amy's aunt (both her mom and aunt were there as class assistants).
Amy had a spread of the ingredients used in mole and some of the accompany dishes. She noted how the ingredients pivto from old to new world, with chilis, pumpkin seeds, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sesame, onions, garlic, tomatillos, citrus, vinegar, corn, flour, chocolate, and many other ingredients all being possible stars and supporting actors in the mole show.
There is usually a starch added to the mole to thicken the sauce. Tortillas are used, but also graham crackers or even animal crackers.
Contrary to popular belief, not every mole contains chocolate. But for those that do, Amy likes this brand of chocolate that is made traditionally in Ciudad, Oaxaca, with cacao from Chiapas, ground almonds, cane sugar and cinnamon. You can order the chocolate here: http://www.casadexocolatl.com/
And I was excited to see a familiar brand from home! Amy is also starting to work with Theo nibs.
Making mole is an exercise in balancing flavors and textures. One item that adds a sweet note are raisins, which Amy recommends frying to deepen and bring out different flavors.
Spices, of course, play a critical role.
We ground up the spices in the molcajetes...
Our peppers were toasted to bring out flavor, the rehydrated in broth. After that, the class shredded and ground them on the metate. GIF of that here: http://cinemagr.am/show1/61848949 Amy's mom said that the saying is the metate has 4 legs: 3 on the actual tool & the 4th is the woman who uses it.
From there, we fried the pepper paste in oil, the added the other ingredient, broth and let it simmer. Amy noted that for the best possible mole when cooking from scratch, you will probably want to try to make it well in advance of serving so that you have more time to let the flavors develop.
Some books on mole and desert foods that Amy brought with.
Our finished dish was mole sauces served on a delicious little bean cake, accompanied by a refreshing and simple cabbage salad dressed with lime. Again, check out Amy's site for more recipes or to pick up some of her powders.