“I


f we’re going to talk moles, what better place to do so?” asks chef Carina Santiago, as she welcomes me to the al fresco kitchen of her restaurant, Tierra Antigua. Campfire


aromas mingled with the scent of dark chocolate fill the air, accompanied by a distinct rustling noise. It’s the sound of the escobetilla — a densely bristled broom, which a member of kitchen staff is using to move cacao seeds around, flicking her wrist back and forth as she does so. The cacao is toasting on a comal — a


large, flat ceramic griddle first created by the Indigenous Zapotecs — which is ubiquitous in Oaxacan cuisine. Held up by two adobe bricks, the comal is elevated just enough so the wood fire beneath can lick its underbelly, transmitting heat evenly across the griddle. Outdoor cocinas de humo (‘smoke kitchens’) like this have been used by generations of Oaxacans to make their moles. A sauce, a dish, a food, a tradition, a


technique, a celebration: mole isn’t one single thing. With a name originating from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word ‘mōlli’, meaning ‘sauce’, this is a foodstuff that incorporates influences from Indigenous Mexico, Europe and even the Middle East. Recipes are studded with ingredients native to these regions, including chilli, chocolate, olives, cinnamon and raisins. Endless variations exist, but each mole


tends to feature a common technique and presentation: ingredients are toasted separately, ground into a paste, fried, then loosened with chicken stock (usually) before being served alongside some form of protein (often), rice (sometimes) and tortillas (always). There’s no shortage of great food here in Oaxaca — Mexico’s culinary heartland — but it’s the moles that are prized above all else. Oaxaca is famed as the ‘land of seven moles’


— a gastronomic slogan spun decades ago to advertise the mole festival in the southern Mexican state, back when it had seven regions (today it has eight). I learn this from Olga Cabrera, chef and owner of local institution Tierra del Sol. Olga hails from the mountainous region of La Mixteca but came to Oaxaca city over 20 years ago to raise her family and open her first restaurant. “When I began to cook here in the Central Valleys, I wondered why there were seven moles. I myself had eight and not one of them was part of ‘the seven’,” she tells me. Olga’s restaurant is known for its 30-


plus mole recipes. My walk there takes me past Santo Domingo, the baroque church that serves as the central hub of downtown Oaxaca, and past street vendors hawking huipiles (traditional clothing) and Styrofoam cups of street corn, before turning down the cobblestone walkway toward Tierra del Sol. I sit on the rooftop terrace overlooking the entrance to the botanic gardens, while the sun sets behind the Sierra Norte Mountains, pulling the heat from the day down with it. I sip a mezcal,


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