Unpacking Mexico’s Universe of Mole

There’s little that rattles the intrepid home cooks of 2018. Well-versed in world flavors and armed with the knowledge of 1,001 digital voices, today’s kitchen warriors don’t stop at Julia Child’s famously laborious beef Bourguignon. “Give me a real challenge,” one imagines them saying. Give me towers of croquembouche wrapped in spindly sugar webbing; day-long smoked pork butt lovingly basted every hour on the hour; and boulangerie-worthy bread baked with flour milled in my very own kitchen. The more steps, the better.

And yet, when it comes to one of the most challenging of Mexican dishes—mole, the complexly spiced and intricately prepared family of sauces dating from pre-Hispanic times—many voices go silent.