More Mole Por Favor!
by Mary Luz Mejia

Oaxacan cuisine, you might say, is one of the original slow foods. Just ask one of the region’s most beloved cooks, Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo, and she’ll tell you that you can’t rush a good mole sauce (pr. mo-leh), just as you can’t rush the making of a good tortilla. And although Oaxaca is the land of seven moles (Chef Pilar suggests there are more than that), it’s also the land of artisanally produced mezcal (a spirit also made from the agave plant), of chocolate enriched with nuts and spices, as well as a spate of dishes dating back to pre-Hispanic times.

When I was working in Oaxaca last fall, I was amazed by the rich and proud culinary history of this region. Walking through a Mercado (or market), I’d go to Doña Maria for a jicara (or little gourd) full of tejate (a frothy chocolate-based drink made with corn and mamey fruit seeds). Then it was off to Doña Isabel for the accompanying baked sweet breakfast breads and Don Manuel for the best tacos around. Everybody had their specialty, and they took their time in making it well. Such is also the case with Chef Pilar.

During her recent whirlwind tour of some of Toronto’s best eateries and cooking schools, Chef Pilar delighted both chefs and diners with dishes reflecting the sixteen indigenous groups of Oaxaca. Her complex, thirty-ingredient black mole (or mole negro) served at Frida Restaurant and Wine Bar drew simultaneous murmurs of approval and much head nodding. It was her grandmother’s recipe and remains her favorite mole to make and eat. To me, that was one of the most memorable restaurant meals she cooked in the city. That’s because, in part, it was the first event in this unique series, and because of the multi-course menu that she shared with talented fellow countryman Chef Jose Hadad. This was also the only Mexican restaurant she cooked in, lending a certain energy and vibrancy to her first, mostly Spanish-speaking Canadian kitchen foray.

But it was the mole coloradito (a brick red mole made with Pilar’s grandmother’s chocolate recipe, chiles, tomatoes and other wonderful ingredients) that she made at my humble home for guests Dave Meli (The Healthy Butcher), his wife Giselle, Ryan Donovan (Cowbell) and his wife Rachael that really inspired me as both a home cook and food writer. My husband Mario and I worked as her diligent “sous-chefs” that day- dry roasting garlic, chiles and tomatoes, crisping tortilla slivers for the soup and salad courses, and having fun turning roasted tomatillos from Jim Hayward’s Haystrom Farm out in Picton into a spicy, complex salsa. Our guests even sampled “chapulines” (lime and chile dusted grasshoppers that feed on alfalfa fields in Oaxaca), accompanied with shots of my fellow coordinator Alvin Starkman’s favourite Mezcal, “Herencia del Mezcalero”- single barrel aged for two years amigos! Smokey and peaty like a fine Scotch, this spirit is in a league all of its own.

Chef Pilar would come out from the kitchen before every course and explain what our guests were about to enjoy and how it was made. This lent the whole affair a certain intimacy and behind-the-scenes appeal that you just can’t provide at a bustling restaurant. Chef Pilar reveled in the guest’s curiosity and willingness to try new things, saying to me a little later, “You know, I love cooking for people like that- people who really, really love food and enjoy trying something different. It gives me energy and makes me want to keep cooking!”

Every venue I booked for Pilar as her tour’s culinary curator was a sold out success- including two cooking classes at Nella Cucina, a botana (Mexican tapas) night at Torito, over 110 people at FRANK, a local and sustainable feast at Veritas and a multi-course conclusion at The Chefs’ House. Chef Pilar filled each plate with colour, authentic Oaxacan flavour and an unbridled passion for her culinary roots. Torontonians responded beyond our wildest expectations- so to all of you who came out, I say “Gracias” from the bottom of my corazon. And next time, I promise there will be a mole of some kind or other at every dinner!.

Mary Luz Mejia is a Toronto-based food writer and television producer. Her website is www.maryluzmejia.com.