Name: Xico-Style Mole (Mole de Xico)
Yield: Makes about 4 quarts basic paste
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 12 ounces mulato chiles or a combination of mulato and pasilla chiles (about 40 chiles); 8 garlic cloves, unpeeled; 2 tablespoons grated piloncillo (Mexican brown loaf sugar) or dark brown sugar; ½ teaspoon aniseed; 1 2- inch piece canela; ¾ cup (approximately) lard, preferably home-rendered; 1 cup slivered almonds; 1 3- ounce Mexican chocolate tablet, grated; 2 commercial corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips; 1 French roll, cut into ½-inch slices, or 5–6 half-inch slices good French bread or Italian bread; ½ cup roasted peanuts; 3 crisp tart-sweet apples (I use Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch slices; 1 ripe plantain, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices; ¼ cup hulled pumpkin seeds; 1 tablespoon salt; ½ cup pecan halves or pieces; ½ cup pine nuts; ½ teaspoon crumbled dried oregano; ¼ cup sesame seeds; 2 cloves; ½ cup dark raisins; ½ teaspoon black peppercorns; 1 large white onion, unpeeled; 2–3 large ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound); ½ cup skinned roasted hazelnuts; 1¼ cups pitted prunes

Preparation info

Makes about
4 quarts
basic paste

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Zarela's Veracruz

By Zarela Martínez

Published 2001

About

This great regional specialty belongs to the family of southern and central Mexican main-dish sauces meant to be served in generous soupy portions with some simply poached or braised meat or poultry swimming in them. The mole de Xico, or mole xiqueño, is not as universally known outside of Mexico as the elegantly balanced mole poblano nor as famous inside the country as the super-elaborate mole negro oaxaqueño (named for their cities of origin in neighbori