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Portrait of Mole

General knowledge · Food & drink

Mole

Colonial Mexico; Mexican cuisine inscribed by UNESCO in 2010

Food and drink — the Mexican sauce of chillies, seeds and chocolate

A family of Mexican sauces whose name comes from the Nahuatl mulli, meaning simply "sauce" — the same root that gives guacamole, from ahuacamulli, avocado sauce. The most famous version is a dark, thick Pueblan preparation combining several dried chillies with nuts, seeds, spices, fruit and a little chocolate, legendarily improvised by nuns at the convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla for a visiting dignitary. Oaxaca is called the land of the seven varieties, and traditional Mexican cuisine as a whole was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010.

How to spot them

  • ▸A Nahuatl word that just means 'sauce' — the same root as guacamole
  • ▸A convent in Puebla and an improvised dish for a visiting archbishop or viceroy
  • ▸Chocolate used savoury, as one ingredient among dozens
  • ▸Oaxaca is called the land of the seven
  • ▸Usually poured over turkey, and eaten at weddings and feast days

Key facts

From the Nahuatl mulli, which means nothing more specific than 'sauce'

The same element appears in guacamole, from ahuacamulli, avocado sauce.

Nuns at the convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla are said to have improvised it for a visiting dignitary

The poblano legend, usually attached to Sor Andrea de la Asunción. Puebla and Oaxaca both claim the origin.

Oaxaca is called the land of the seven: negro, rojo, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo and manchamanteles

The last name means 'tablecloth-stainer'.

Ancho, mulato, pasilla and chipotle, toasted and ground together with nuts, seeds and spices

The chilli base of the classic Pueblan version; ancho is a dried poblano, chipotle a smoked jalapeño.

Chocolate used as a savoury ingredient, in a quantity too small to sweeten

It deepens colour and rounds the bitterness of the chillies rather than making the dish sweet.

Traditional Mexican cuisine entered UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010, cited through the Michoacán paradigm (2010)

The first national cuisine, alongside the French gastronomic meal, to be inscribed.

The volcanic basalt slab and roller used to grind the chillies and seeds by hand

The metate and mano — still preferred by traditionalists over the blender.

Poured over turkey for weddings and saints' days, with the bird being the native domesticate

Guajolote — the turkey, domesticated in Mesoamerica long before European contact.

Key ideas

  • It is defined by process rather than by recipe: many ingredients, each toasted or fried separately, ground, then fried again as a paste and let down with stock. The long cooking is what makes dozens of components read as one flavour.

Quick-fire facts

  • •The name derives from the Nahuatl mulli or molli, meaning sauce; guacamole comes from ahuacamulli
  • •Mole poblano, the best known version, is traditionally served over turkey and contains several dried chillies plus nuts, seeds, spices, dried fruit and a little chocolate
  • •The origin legend places its invention in the convent of Santa Rosa in Puebla, in the colonial period
  • •Oaxaca is known as the land of the seven moles: negro, rojo, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo and manchamanteles
  • •Manchamanteles means 'tablecloth-stainer'
  • •Ancho chillies are dried poblanos; chipotles are smoked and dried jalapeños; pasillas are dried chilacas
  • •The chocolate is a minor ingredient, used for colour and depth, not sweetness
  • •Traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010
  • •Grinding is traditionally done on a metate, a three-legged volcanic stone slab, with a hand roller called a mano
  • •Mole verde uses tomatillos, pumpkin seeds and fresh herbs rather than dried chillies, and is quick rather than long-cooked

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