Mexican food guides
What is huitlacoche? Where does mole poblano come from? We answer the most common questions about Mexican dishes and ingredients, with history, origin and recipes to cook them at home.
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Molcajeteado: what it is, the technique and how it differs from a blender
Discover molcajeteado: the technique of making salsas and guacamole in a volcanic stone mortar. Textures, flavours and how it differs from a blender.
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Mole almendrado: what it is and how it's made
Discover mole almendrado, a variant of mole with abundant almonds produced in San Pedro Atocpan, the mole capital of Mexico City.
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Mole amarillo: what it is, ingredients and how to make it
Discover yellow mole or 'amarillito', one of the seven Oaxacan moles, made with yellow chilhuacle, hoja santa and maize masa as a thickener.
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Mole chichilo: what it is, taste and how it's made
Discover mole chichilo, the rarest of the seven Oaxacan moles, a ritual dish of mourning with charred black chilhuacle, avocado leaf and chochoyotes.
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Mole coloradito: what it is, taste and how it's used
Discover mole coloradito, one of the seven Oaxacan moles, sweetish and spiced, ideal for chicken and traditional enchiladas of the Zapotec recipe book.
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Mole de cazuela: what it is and how to make it step by step
Discover the mole de cazuela technique: toasting chillies and seeds, grinding on a metate, slow simmering. The basis of traditional Mexican moles.
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Mole de novia: what it is and how the white mole is made
Discover mole de novia, a white mole created by chef Alicia Gironella inspired by the mole of Tlapa, Guerrero, ideal for weddings and festive banquets.
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Mole de olla: what it is, what's in it and where it's from
Mole de olla is a Mexican beef broth with dried chillies, xoconostle, corn, courgette, green beans and chochoyones. A traditional, hearty, comforting dish from central…
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Mole de Xico: what it is, what's in it and what it tastes like
Discover mole de Xico, a sweet Veracruz mole with prune, plantain and hazelnuts, an emblematic dish of the sierra of Xico, Veracruz.
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Mole poblano: what it is, history, ingredients and traditional recipe
Mole poblano is the emblematic dish of Puebla with over 25 ingredients. Learn its colonial history, its chillies and how it is traditionally prepared.
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Mole prieto: what it is and how the tlilmolli is made
Discover mole prieto from Tlaxcala, or tlilmolli, a pre-Hispanic ritual dish made with maize masa, guajillo chilli and pork, tied to Tlaxcalan patron saint feasts.
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Mole ranchero: what it is and how it differs from poblano
Discover mole ranchero, or mole de rancho, the simple, home-style version of mole poblano with fewer ingredients, popular in the villages of Puebla.
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Mole tamales: what they are and how to make them
Mole tamales with chicken are the heart of the chilango tamale cart: fluffy dough filled with chicken bathed in mole poblano or red mole, wrapped in maize husk.
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Molinillo: what it is, what it is for and how to use it
Meet the Mexican molinillo: a wooden whisk carved from a single piece for frothing hot chocolate. A colonial and Oaxacan tradition.
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Molotes: what they are, fillings and how to make them
Molotes are elongated fried maize-masa pasties, filled with tinga, potato with chorizo or squash blossom. A classic antojito of Oaxaca and Puebla.
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Mora chilli: what it is, heat and uses vs morita
The mora chilli is the smoked jalapeño larger than the morita, popular in charred salsas and adobos of central Mexico. Flavour, heat and uses.
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Morita chilli: what it is, heat and uses vs chipotle
The morita chilli is a small smoked jalapeño with sweet notes and moderate heat. Discover its flavour, how it differs from the chipotle, and how to use it in salsas and…
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Mostachones: what they are, ingredients and how to make them
Mostachones de Saltillo: traditional Coahuila biscuits with walnut, cinnamon and piloncillo. A living colonial recipe of northern Mexico.
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Mucbipollo: what it is and how the Yucatecan pib is made
The mucbipollo or pib is the great ceremonial tamale of Yucatan, buried during Hanal Pixan to honour the dead: recipe, history and Maya meaning.
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Muéganos: what they are and how to make the sweet
The muegano is a Mexican sweet of fried flour dough in little cubes joined with piloncillo syrup. Typical of Tehuacan (Puebla) and Huamantla (Tlaxcala).
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Mulato chilli: what it is, heat and how it differs from ancho
The mulato chilli is the dark dried poblano, fundamental to mole poblano and to Mexico's dark moles. Flavour, heat, differences from the ancho and uses.
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Nance: what it is, taste and uses of the fruit
The nance (Byrsonima crassifolia) is a small yellow tropical fruit, bittersweet and intensely aromatic. Typical of south-eastern Mexico in ice creams, liqueurs and…
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Nayarit cuisine: what it is and its typical dishes
Discover Nayarit cuisine: Mexcaltitán pescado zarandeado, Huichol tlaxtihuilli, Nayarit sopes and the Cora-Huichol heritage of the Mexican Pacific.
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Nejayote: what it is and what nixtamal water is used for
Discover nejayote, the yellow water from maize nixtamalisation: its pre-Hispanic origin, culinary value, medicinal uses and environmental challenges.
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Nejo tamales: what they are and how ash is used
Nejo tamales are a Guerrero speciality made with maize dough nixtamalised in wood ash, lard and beans, with no filling. A thousand-year-old tradition.
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Nixtamalisation: what it is, how it's done and why it matters
Discover nixtamalisation: the pre-Hispanic technique of treating maize with lime that gives rise to tortillas, tamales and the whole Mexican culinary universe.
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Nixtamalised masa: what it is, how it is made and its uses
Meet nixtamalised masa: the base of tortillas, tamales and antojitos. How it is made from nixtamal, its nutritional properties and techniques.
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Northern tamales: what they are and where they're typical
Northern tamales are small, firm pieces of maize dough with pork in red chilli, typical of Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua during the Christmas season.
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Nuevo León cuisine: typical dishes and what to eat
Discover Nuevo León cuisine: cabrito al pastor, machacado with egg, frijoles a la charra and the Monterrey tradition of Mexico's industrial north.
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Oaxacan cuisine: what it is, its history and the seven traditional moles
Discover Oaxacan cuisine: the seven moles, tlayudas, mezcal and the Zapotec-Mixtec tradition declared World Heritage by UNESCO.