Mexican mole

Mole is the general name given to many sauces used in Mexican cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces. The word is widely known in the combined form guacamole (avocado sauce).

Mole can be best defined as a very thick, smooth sauce with complex flavours. This distinguishes it from most Mexican salsas which have a thinner consistency, often raw, and contain fewer ingredients (normally just tomato, onion, garlic and chilli pepper).

The most common way to eat mole is over chicken or pork, though any kind of meat may be served with mole sauce. Another preparation, more common in restaurants, is enchiladas (corn tortillas wrapped around chicken, cheese or vegetable filling) baked in mole sauce. We also use our mole as a substitute for guacamole with fajitas.

A couple of the most popular and well known moles are Mole Negro and Mole Poblano. Spicymonkey’s Mexican mole is somewhere between the two. We use many varieties of chilli but it is not very hot. There are also many roasted seeds and dried fruits and a long list of spices added to the yummy chocolate and broth mixture. A lot of time and effort is spent in the preparation of each batch of this sauce but our efforts are rewarded by the hundreds of positive comments we get for one of our most prized recipes.

This jar of spice mix is enough for approximately 6 portions depending on how much of it you like to drink while waiting for it to cook.