OLÉ to Molé!
This is the last of our Oaxacan posts, I (Caroline, here) wanted to share with you my experience at a cooking class I took while in Oaxaca. I met 2 wonderful people, Australians nomadically living in Oaxaca who are currently working on a cookbook about Mexican food. I know, it sounds strange but after taking the class, meeting the people, and tasting the food, its not so weird. Travis Harvey and Kerin Ferguson have done their fair share of research, visiting the local farms to learn about the agriculture, getting to know the Mexican people and their food. The class was really fun and we learned everything from the basic tools necessary to a little bit about food chemistry!The menu for this class was as follows:
Mole Coloradito, Memelitas, Salsa de Arbol, and Horchata.
Travis met us at the Mercado and showed us the different chiles and uses (did you know that chipotle is just a jalepeno pepper that’s been smoked?!), chocolates, and Oaxacan cheese. Then we were off to La Villada Inn, where the cooking class takes place.
First off, we started with the Horchata. The almonds and rice had already been soaking by the time we got there, so all that needed to be added were a couple of spices and a whirl in the blender. Its so easy, you’d wonder why you never made it before yourself.
Molé is incredibly simple, it just has a lot of ingredients, don’t let it fool you. It is a mix of 3 different kinds of chiles, a crazy amount of spices, some tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, and a wee bit of chocolate. Most people think that the majority of molé is made from chocolate, but its actually a tiny bit.
Travis then showed us the workings of a tortilla press and the comal. A comal is “either a thin metal or unglazed ceramic tray, used to cook tortillas or toast ingredients like chiles, tomatoes etc.” He coated the comal with calcium carbonate to keep the uncooked tortillas from sticking to the comal. We each got our turn at making a tortilla, of course, I failed twice but third time’s a charm! From this we made memelitas which are a little thicker than a tortilla and thinner than sopes.
Lastly, Travis whipped up some salsa de arbol and we were seated for lunch. Cerveza and mezcal (kind of like tequila but smokier, a product of Oaxaca) in hand we were ready to eat! A nice breeze and good conversation with Travis and Kerin about their lives in Oaxaca and how Travis came to cooking/teaching there, the lunch was perfect. Did I mention that the food was delicioso, because it was MUY BIEN! Travis and Kristen are working on a book about Mexican food, hoping to get it published soon, I hope for both your sake and mine that it gets published soon. Check our their blog, De La Tierra, for recipes from the class that I didn’t list here and for more info about their classes when you decide to go down to Oaxaca.
Mole Coloradito | makes 4 portions
from De La Tierra
1/2 cup vege oil or manteca
2 ancho chile
3 chile guajillo
2 chile pasilla
20g raisins
1/2 cup raw peanuts
300g egg tomato
1 onion halved
150g tomatillo (or 150g more tomato + 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar, if unavailable)
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 bayleaves
3 cloves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
30g dark Mexican drinking chocolate (or good quality dark chocolate)
2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
poached chicken
- After wiping the chiles clean, split, de-seed and fry one at a time for about 5 seconds in vegetable oil. Place in a saucepan with the raisins and cover with boiling water. Leave sit for 10 minutes.
- In the same oil, fry the peanuts for 2-3 minutes until lightly golden. Drain from the oil and reserve.
- On a comal, toast the tomato, tomatillo, garlic, and onion. When the tomatoes are soft all the way through, remove from the heat. Quickly toast sesame seeds till golden than add the cloves, oregano, and thyme and heat for 30 seconds.
- Place all ingredients in a blender with 1/2 a cup of the chicken stock. Blend until very fine. Pass the mixture through a fine strainer, reserve.
- Take a small amount of the oil used for frying the chiles and peanuts, and heat it in a frying pan. Carefully add the paste, fry for 2-3 minutes until very fragrant. Add the salt, chocolate and remaining chicken stock. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve over poached chicken with warm tortillas.
Memelitas de Frijol | serves 6
200g fresh corn masa (or commercially prepared masa flour)
100g black bean paste
100g quesillo or queso fresco
finely sliced white onion
- Divide the masa into 6 even balls, flatten them slightly, then press firmly in a tortilla press.
- Turn over and press again, but not too hard as you don’t want them too thin.
- Cook briefly on a comal before flipping over and pinching the edges to form a slight crust.
- Fill with a little black bean paste, top with shredded quesillo and cook a little longer till crispy on the base. Top with a little sliced onion and the salsa of your choice, my favourite is the Arbol sauce below.
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Note to self: must get tortilla press. Soon. What an incredible experience…the food looks great (I big time heart mole) and it sounds like the company wasn’t so shabby either. I love meeting happy, nomadic folks–always makes me inspired to just get up, travel more, and think/worry less. Anyway, thanks for sharing
Comment by Megan Gordon — July 18, 2010 #
Just found your blog via EatMakeRead. What lovely photos. I have to agree about the tortilla press, although there is limited counter space in my NY apartment. The horchata seems pretty easy to make, I’ll have to try soon!
Comment by Rachel — July 23, 2010 #