Mole (Mexican sauce)

Mole is a sauce very popular in Mexico. It consists of all kind of chiles mixed with spices, unsweetened chocolate, peanuts and many other varied ingredients.

The most popular kinds come from the Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca, and there is an annual national mole fair in the town of San Pedro Actopan in the Milpa Alta borough of Mexico's Federal District, on the southern outskirts of Mexico City.

Mole poblano, Mexico's national dish, is prepared with chili and chocolate, and was first served in a nunnery in Puebla (hence "poblano") and is poured over chicken, turkey or enchilada.

Mole is the main ingredient to prepare enchiladas in the south of the country, it is also used with chicken and rice.

One can buy mole ready made in local markets or supermarkets, it is a kind of paste that can vary in colour from deep black to green or even yellow depending on the ingredients used, in modern supermarkets it is sold as produced by food companies, it can be either canned, in glass vases or in cubes that can be dissolved in water.

The accented form molé, occasionally seen in English, is an error of hypercorrection.