Dishes
Mole Poblano
MOH-lay poh-BLAH-noh
Also Known As Mole Poblano de Guajolote
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A dark, complex sauce from Puebla, Mexico built from dried chili peppers, spices, ground nuts or seeds and a small amount of chocolate, traditionally simmered for hours and served over turkey or chicken. Convent kitchens in colonial Puebla are widely credited with its development, blending indigenous Mesoamerican chili and cacao cookery with ingredients introduced under Spanish rule, though, as with many dishes claimed by a specific kitchen, the exact originating convent is disputed among several candidates.
Facts
Origin RegionSourced to the subject's own accountPuebla, Mexico (convent kitchens, colonial era) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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Uses Ingredient
Sources
Open Questions (1 open question)
Which Puebla convent, nun or friar first prepared mole poblano?
Several colonial-era convent-kitchen legends compete for credit, naming different convents, nuns, friars and even different visiting dignitaries (an archbishop in some versions, the viceroy Juan de Palafox y Mendoza in others); food historians hold there is not enough evidence to prefer one account over the others.
What would resolve this A contemporary 17th- or 18th-century convent record or eyewitness account naming one specific convent, nun or friar as the dish's inventor, rather than the anecdotal accounts collected long after the fact, would settle which legend, if any, is accurate.
Culinary history / colonial Mexican archival researchMole Poblano (Wikipedia)
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