The mole route through Puebla and Oaxaca: a travel guide

If there is one dish that justifies an entire trip to Mexico, it is mole. And if there are two cities that compete for its heart, they are Puebla and Oaxaca. A mole route links them in five or six days, usually starting or finishing in Mexico City: Puebla is about two hours by road from the capital, and Oaxaca several hours further south or a short flight away. In this guide we explain which moles to look for in each city, which markets to visit, which other dishes not to miss along the way and when in the year the route makes most sense.

If you want to understand the history and the varieties before you travel, see our guides to the seven moles of Oaxaca and to Puebla, the cradle of Mexican gastronomy. Here we focus on the trip.

Puebla: mole poblano and convent cooking

Puebla de los Ángeles was one of the great cities of New Spain, and its cooking still bears the mark of its convents, where indigenous ingredients — chiles, cacao, tomato, turkey — were combined with spices, almonds and sugar from Europe and Asia. The most often repeated tradition places the birth of mole poblano in one of the city's convents in colonial times; historians treat it as legend, but the link between mole and Puebla's convent kitchens appears in every source.

Mole poblano combines several dried chiles (mulato, ancho, pasilla and chipotle, depending on the recipe), seeds, nuts, spices, bread or tortilla to thicken it and a little chocolate. It is served over turkey or chicken, with sesame seeds on top and rice on the side. In Puebla you will find it in fondas (simple eateries), markets and family-run kitchens; at family celebrations it is practically obligatory.

What else to eat in Puebla

• Chalupas: small fried tortillas with green or red salsa, shredded meat and onion. A classic of the squares at dusk.
• Cemitas: sesame-topped rolls filled with breaded meat, avocado, cheese, chipotle and pápalo, a strongly flavored herb.
• Tacos árabes: spit-roasted pork served in Arab-style flatbread, a legacy of the Middle Eastern immigrants who arrived in the city in the twentieth century.
• Mole de caderas: in Tehuacán, in the south-east of the state, it is made only in season, from mid-October to November, with goats raised in the region.
• Chiles en nogada: from August to September, with walnuts from the Calpan area and seasonal pomegranate.
• Traditional sweets: camotes poblanos (sweet-potato confections), muéganos and tortitas de Santa Clara, on the street of sweet shops in the center.

Oaxaca: the seven moles and more

In Oaxaca mole is not a single dish but a family. People talk about «the seven moles» — negro, rojo, coloradito, amarillo, verde, chichilo and manchamanteles — although the cooks of each village make many more. Black mole, with chilhuacle negro chiles, chocolate and charred tortilla, is the most famous; yellow mole, lighter, is used in empanadas and tamales; chichilo, smoky and made with avocado leaf, is the hardest to find.

The city of Oaxaca is small and easy to explore on foot. For the mole route there are three stops:

• Mercado Benito Juárez, one block from the Zócalo: stalls selling mole paste, chocolate, dried chiles, quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese) and chapulines.
• Mercado 20 de Noviembre, next door: eateries serving mole and, in its grilled-meat aisle — the so-called «pasillo del humo», or smoke corridor — tasajo and cecina enchilada that you choose raw and have grilled on the spot.
• Central de Abasto, the city's biggest market, to see chiles from all over the state.

What else to eat in Oaxaca

• Tlayudas: large crisp tortillas with asiento (pork lard), beans, quesillo and meat, almost always cooked over coals at night.
• Memelas: thick tortillas with asiento, beans and cheese, for breakfast.
• Oaxacan tamales in banana leaf, filled with black mole.
• Tejate: a pre-Hispanic drink of maize, cacao and cacao flower, sold in gourd bowls in the markets.
• Chocolate made with water or milk, with pan de yema (egg-yolk bread).

When to do the mole route

Any time of year works, but there are three special moments:

• October: the National Mole Fair in San Pedro Atocpan (Mexico City) and the start of the mole de caderas season in Tehuacán.
• Late October and early November: the Day of the Dead. In Oaxaca the altars carry mole, tamales, pan de muerto and chocolate. Book well in advance.
• July: the Guelaguetza in Oaxaca, on the two Mondays after 16 July, with food shows and a mezcal fair.

For the rest of the year's dates, see our food festival calendar.

A six-day itinerary

1. Day 1, Puebla: historic center, mole poblano for lunch, chalupas at dusk.
2. Day 2, Puebla: markets, cemitas, traditional sweets and, in season, chiles en nogada. Optional trip to Cholula.
3. Day 3, transfer to Oaxaca: by road or by air via Mexico City. Tlayuda in the evening.
4. Day 4, Oaxaca: Mercado Benito Juárez and 20 de Noviembre; black mole for lunch.
5. Day 5, Central Valleys: if it is a Sunday, the Tlacolula market; if not, mezcal distilleries in Santiago Matatlán. We explain it in the mezcal route.
6. Day 6, Oaxaca: Central de Abasto, and chocolate and mole paste to take home.

A cookery class in Oaxaca is a very common way to see a mole made from start to finish: toasting the chiles, grinding them and frying the paste. There are plenty; choose one that includes a market visit.

How to bring mole home

Mole paste is the most practical option: it keeps well and at home you only need to dilute it in stock. In the markets of Oaxaca and Puebla it is sold by weight, in bags or jars. Ask for it to be well sealed and check your country's rules on bringing in food beforehand. With it you can make mole enchiladas or enmoladas at home.

Frequently asked questions

Which city should I choose if I only have time for one?

Oaxaca, if you want a variety of moles and markets; Puebla, if you are interested in cooking with colonial roots and want to stay close to the capital.

Is mole very spicy?

Generally not. The dried chiles in mole bring flavor and color more than heat, and the chocolate, seeds and sugar soften it. Chichilo and some red moles can be a little more intense.

Are there moles without meat?

Mole itself is a sauce, and in many markets it is served with egg, in enchiladas or in tamales. Always ask, because the base stock is usually chicken.

What is the difference between mole poblano and black mole?

Both are dark and contain chocolate, but Oaxacan black mole is made with chilhuacle negro and charred tortilla and has a deeper, smokier flavor. We compare them in our guide to Oaxacan black mole.

Sources

• Spanish-language Wikipedia, «Feria Nacional del Mole» (San Pedro Atocpan, October).
• Spanish-language Wikipedia, «Guelaguetza» (dates of the Lunes del Cerro and the mezcal fair).
• Spanish-language Wikipedia, «Tacos árabes» (origin in Puebla).
• Lonely Planet and Afar, entries on Oaxaca's Mercado 20 de Noviembre (grilled-meat aisle, tasajo and cecina).
• México Desconocido, «La historia del chile en nogada» (legend, season and Calpan walnuts).
• Milenio and México Desconocido, reports on the mole de caderas season in Tehuacán (October to November).