Oaxaca cuisine: seasonings and ingredients

Both the refinement and complexity in
Oaxacan food is what draws people to it.

Oaxacan cooking is incredibly labor intensive and there's this very real 'hands-on' quality in the preparation. In working so directly, so intimately with fresh, local ingredients the process is raised to a highly respected and satisfying craft.

Not only has Oaxaca made significant contributions to the flavors of the world - especially with its extraordinary mole (mo-lay) sauces: sharp, thick, sweetly complex, with top notes of smoke, sometimes clove and citrus and always undertones of dried-chile heat, but the Indians from Oaxaca invented two of the cooking utensils that are still essential in Mexican cooking: the molcajete (stone utensil used to crush and mix spices) and the comal (metal utensil for heating and baking).

Oaxaca is justly famous worldwide for its vibrant, inventive, and diverse cuisine. The markets and restaurants produce their succulent, rich moles for which Oaxaca is famous. There are at least seven basic varieties of mole made in the region. Here are nine: negro (black), amarillo (yellow), coloradito (reddish), almendrado (with almonds), verde (green), rojo (red), Manchamanteles (tablecloth stainer) and chichilo negro. Mole de Castillo, which is different from most others, is prepared with a abundance of oregano, ground black pepper and chile guajillo - ground together to make a paste. Slow-toasted chunks of regional bread are incorporated into a chicken broth with the spice paste to give it body (instead of being thickened with masa as many moles are). Moles, which vary in spiciness, are incredibly elaborate and laborious, sometimes requiring more than 30 different ingredients. They are served with chicken, pork or beef. Speaking of the moles of Oaxaca - complex sauces often flavored with, among other things, sesame and other seeds, almonds, pecans, lemon juice, herbs, roasted peanuts, tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, cinnamon sticks, cloves, oregano, sugar, chicken broth, chiles of every description (chilhuacle, pasilla, guajillo, etc.) - there is always one being served somewhere in the city

	Such as the coloradito; with its brick-red color of roasted chiles, sautéed spices, and ground, charred bread, it is elusively spicy and with a slightly tangy sweetness, a little smoky, with the fullness of toasted grain and a bit more pungent than the negro or the amarillo, which is especially mild, with its clean chile flavor, a strong top note of cumin and a slightly oily texture.

But most ubiquitous is the mole negro, composed of 20 or more ingredients, rich with chopped chocolate and burnt grain, undertones of toasted chile and wave upon wave of textured spice and heat.

Pre-Hispanic ingredients like chocolate, squash, tomatoes and the immense variety of chilies, along with Spanish and Arabic spices, are essentials in Oaxacan cuisine. The imaginative combination of these and other indigenous ingredients, as well as traditional ways of using them, makes this region an irresistible and sensual delight for gourmets.

Many of the other ingredients and spices that go into Oaxaca's moles, such as almonds, sesame seeds, and raisins, cloves, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper are all from the old world brought first by the Spaniards and then others from the middle east and the orient.
	A perfect example of this tradition is the mole called Chichilo Negro (which one doesn't find everywhere in Oaxaca). An earthy, smoky, complex mole in which the ingredients have been charred if not actually ignited. The seeds of the chilies are lit, the dried tortilla is charred and these burnt ingredients are ground into the mixture to produce a dark and smoky sauce. This roasting, toasting and charring of foods in hot ashes imparts a distinct flavor to a cuisine that has been developing and evolving over a thousand years. There is nothing light on the tongue about it.
Years ago a lot of visitors were leery about eating in Oaxaca's many restaurants for fear of becoming sick, preferring, instead, to stick to the hotel restaurant. This has completely changed. It would be a sad thing indeed if one came to Oaxaca and didn't eat out almost every day, at least once. The rule we stick to is: If the restaurant is upscale, we can eat everything. If it is middle of the road we can eat everything. If the restaurant is doubtful - we don't eat there. Oaxaca is to Mexican food lovers and cooks perhaps what Florence is to art aficionados. Walking through any village market, or just down the street in Oaxaca is a aromatic as well as visual delight. In Oaxaca, it is difficult for one to walk for very long without ending up in a market and passing a dozen little restaurants. Come down and have a bite to eat. You'll be pleased you did.

Oaxacan cooking is incredibly labor intensive and there's this very real 'hands-on' quality in the preparation. In working so directly, so intimately with fresh, local ingredients the process is raised to a highly respected and satisfying craft.

But most ubiquitous is the mole negro, composed of 20 or more ingredients, rich with chopped chocolate and burnt grain, undertones of toasted chile and wave upon wave of textured spice and heat.

Many of the other ingredients and spices that go into Oaxaca's moles, such as almonds, sesame seeds, and raisins, cloves, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper are all from the old world brought first by the Spaniards and then others from the middle east and the orient.

Years ago a lot of visitors were leery about eating in Oaxaca's many restaurants for fear of becoming sick, preferring, instead, to stick to the hotel restaurant. This has completely changed. It would be a sad thing indeed if one came to Oaxaca and didn't eat out almost every day, at least once.

Come down and have a bite to eat. You'll be pleased you did.

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