I was sitting at my dining room table this morning slurping coffee and vigorously procrastinating while supposedly working on a cookbook I'm writing-on the subject of Mexican
mole
-when I heard the familiar ding of a new e-mail message. It was The Spanish Table's newsletter announcing the availability of six different kinds of Mexican
mole
pastes for $6.99 each (109 N. Guadalupe, 986-0243).
The word
mole
comes from the Nahuatl word
molli
, which means "mixture," and the indigenous peoples of Mexico have been making versions of these cooked sauces and stews for centuries.
Mole
is Mexico's favorite dish, most commonly made on Dia de los Muertos and Christmas, for weddings, funerals and village fiestas. Why reserve this delicious dish for special days? Because it is an unbelievable hassle to make! (Unless you use store-bought
mole
paste!)
Mole
is never simple; this is celebration food and it is at its best when it is most complex, most time-consuming. Many recipes contain more ingredients than you can count on your manicured and pedicured fingers and toes. First, there must be chiles.
Anchos
,
pasillas
,
guajillos
,
jalapeños
,
chuhuacles
amarillos
-they are absolutely essential, as are Mexican cinnamon, whole cloves, allspice berries, cumin seeds and black peppercorns. Some herbs, like thyme and marjoram, are probably already in your spice cabinet; others, like Mexican oregano,
hoja santa
and
epazote
, are harder to find.
Most, but not all,
moles
contain nuts and seeds. Almonds, peanuts, pecans and sesame seeds are often used in combination to give this sauce body and richness. Tomatoes, tart green tomatillos, onions, garlic, raisins, plantains, pineapple, apple, cactus and squash are all common, but would never appear all together.
Chocolate,
mole
's most famous ingredient, is not used in every
mole
. But even when
mole
contains chocolate, the resulting sauce never tastes like ice-cream topping. Chocolate merely plays well with the other ingredients, adding depth, some fat and a little silkiness to the texture.
This complexity is the beauty of
mole
. The primary ingredients and the basic techniques are important, but pretty much everything else is up to you, what's in your kitchen and what's in the market. Here's a recipe I developed one night last week, after coming across cheap frozen ducks at the grocery store. Let it take up your entire Saturday. The reward is sweet.
Roast Duck in Orange Honey Mole
Orange is not traditional in
mole
. So what!
1 (6-pound) duck fresh or thawed
Salt and pepper
4 cups water or chicken stock
2 tablespoons Mexican oregano
3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
4 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
¾ cup slivered almonds
½ cup golden raisins
1 (2-inch) stick Mexican cinnamon
6 whole cloves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ medium onion
2 cloves garlic
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup frozen orange juice concentrate
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons reserved duck fat or vegetable oil
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350° F.
1) Remove the giblets from the duck cavity. Rinse it under running water, inside and out, and pat it dry with paper towels. Prick the duck all over with a fork or a the tip of a paring knife. (Do not do your best impression of
Psycho
. You only want to pierce the skin, not the meat.) Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the duck and put it on a rack in a roasting pan, with the breast facing down. Roast for about 40 minutes. Flip the bird so that the breast is facing up, and continue roasting another 40 minutes or until the inside of the thigh reaches 160°F.
2) Put the giblets in a stock pot and add the stock and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer while you make the sauce.
3) In a cast iron frying pan over medium heat, toast the chiles until they are softened and lightly toasted. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and pour over them enough hot stock to cover, about 3 cups. To keep them submerged you can put a small plate or saucer over them.
4) In the same cast iron pan, toast the almonds, raisins and spices until the almonds are golden and the raisins puff slightly. Put the almonds and spices in the pitcher of your blender; put the cinnamon stick in with the chiles.
5) Add the vegetable oil to the cast iron pan. Add the onion and garlic and sautée until the onions soften. Add the tomatoes and reduce the heat. Cook until the tomatoes release their juices, then thicken, about 15 minutes. Add them to the pitcher of the blender.
6) With a slotted spoon, remove the chiles and cinnamon stick from the soaking stock and add them to the pitcher. Add the soaking stock, orange juice concentrate and honey and puree on the highest setting.
7) Your duck should be just about done. If it is, take a ladle and scoop about 2 tablespoons of fat from the bottom of the pan. (Believe me, you want to do this.) Add the duck fat to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Being careful to guard yourself from splatters, pour the contents of the blender into the sauce pan. Stir, making sure to incorporate the duck fat. Add the chocolate and stir until it is completely melted. Season with salt or add more stock, if necessary.
8) When the duck is cooked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool enough to handle. Cut off the legs and carefully remove the breast meat. Remove the skin and fat from the breasts. Put the legs and breasts in the pot with the mole and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with plenty of warm corn tortillas.
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.
