Mole Negro: Toasting to Heighten Flavor
"Mole is an icon of festival life in Oaxaca," says cookbook author and chef Rick Bayless, and few make the dish as well as Abigail Mendoza Ruiz. Mendoza is the owner of the restaurant Tlamanalli in Teotitlán del Valle, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Demonstrating mole negro, the region's famous black mole, at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Mendoza emphasized the importance of toasting every ingredient
"It's controlled burning," says Bayless, who translated for Mendoza. "If you toast too fast, all you get is bitterness." One of the secrets of mastering mole negro is knowing just how long to toast each ingredient. The sesame seeds are toasted lightly. The dried chilies are toasted until almost black, a technique that surprises many.
Oaxacan cooks start preparations for mole negro several days ahead, says Bayless, in part so they can get the chili fumes out of the house. In many homes, cooks have an outdoor setup for toasting mole ingredients because the fumes can be so pungent. Many still use live fire to heat their comal, or griddle, which imparts a desirable smokiness.
The three chili varieties (guajillo, ancho and chilhuacle negro) that Mendoza uses in her mole must be toasted separately because some are thick-fleshed and some thin-fleshed. She removes the seeds first because she will toast them, too. In the accompanying video, notice how thoroughly she blackens both the chilies and their seeds. Then—you may not believe your eyes—she sets the oily chili seeds on fire. "She calls it the purification of the flavor," says Bayless. "It tastes too smoky if you don't burn off that oil." Take a look.
Even the raisins are toasted for mole negro, along with almonds, sesame seeds, herbs and spices. "There are all different stages of toasting," says Bayless, chef–owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago, "and if you don't know how far to take it, you won't have the right flavor. I have to say, it was years before I attempted to put black mole on the menu."
After toasting and soaking the chilies and roasting all the other ingredients, Mendoza grinds them in a metate to a fine paste—a texture that a blender can't duplicate, although it's the next best option. Watch how deft she is at grinding.
Finally, the paste is fried in lard or oil until all the moisture has evaporated. Only then is it ready to use in the rich moles that have made Oaxaca's culinary fame.
A great mole has a well-blended flavor, says Bayless. You shouldn't be able to discern any one of the many ingredients. "When you taste it, think of the play of bitter and sweet," says the chef. "You have to have the sweet to balance the bitter."
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