Cook Oaxacan Black Mole in San Miguel De Allende

We had a fantastic time. Started the day with a fantastic breakfast and coffee courtesy of the hosts—Mario and Sarah. Then went through all the steps of cooking mole, in a very relaxed and fun environment. Learnt heaps about the different ingredients and preparation methods, as well as the culture of Oaxaca. Ended with a delicious mole lunch, and plenty of leftovers (still going two weeks later). Highly recommend!

I took a Black Mole cooking class last week with Chef Mario Iribe-Benitez, at his restaurant Salon Oaxaca in San Miguel de Allende. The class started out with a walk to the mercados to buy all the ingredients we needed for the Oaxacan black mole. We bought seeds, nuts, dried chilis, fresh fruit and veggies, herbs, and blue corn tortillas. Walking to the markets and buying the ingredients was just one of the colorful and enjoyable parts of this cooking experience. Back to the kitchen we chopped, sliced, diced, blended, fried, stirred……and stirred……and stirred…….and talked about the origins of this delicious recipe. The recipe takes a long time to make, as it should, and is truly “slow cooking” and muy delicioso! I might run out of superlatives to describe my experience……but this was one of my all-time most-cherished cooking experiences with a master chef…….ever!! Chef Mario is a wonderful chef, author, teacher and is passionate about Mexican cuisine. I am a home cook, chef, cooking instructor, cookbook author, and world-food lover. Chef Mario AND his Oaxacan Black Mole recipe are real………and really excellent.

The class was a great opportunity to learn about how to make such a complex mixture of ingredients into a delicious mole sauce. Mario, the chef instructor, took us to the market, explained to us the ideas behind the ingredients and steps used and put us to work to produce a wonderful lunch and a good time. It was a great cultural and culinary experience.