Specialty Food Magazine

WINTER 2014

Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.

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cuisine focus L THE MANY FACES OF MOLE a Palapa's Barbara Sibley, a frequent visitor to Mexico, always has at least two moles on her menu, mole negro (black) and mole rojo (red), made fresh daily and served over grilled duck breast, chicken enchiladas or shrimp. Oaxaca officially recognizes seven types of mole, three of which contain chocolate. The number of ingredients for each can range from 10 to 30, their flavors varying from robust to complex. The sauces are spooned over meat, fish or eggs, marinated or braised for a variety of uses. Here is a breakdown of the essential Seasons of My Heart, which attracts both professional types and traits: and hobbyist chefs from abroad. When her students • Mole negro: the most elegant of the seven variations, returned to the U.S. or other countries they hailed from, savory-sweet and dark from charred chiles and they lamented not being able to find Mexico's indigenous chocolate; ingredients include onion, garlic, cinnamon, ingredients and dishes not quite tasting the same. This cloves, pumpkin and sesame seeds, and other spices led her to develop a line of Oaxacan moles two years and herbs ago, also called Seasons of My Heart, for restaurants • Mole rojo: otherwise known as mole poblano, a red and retail. She ships jars of her mole negro, coloradito sauce with less chocolate and more dried red chiles and mole rojo paste to Zingerman's Delicatessen in Ann than mole negro, sweetened with raisins Arbor, Mich., Gaucho Gourmet in San Antonio and Sante • Coloradito: a reddish-brown blend, made with chocolate, onion, garlic, chipotle and guajillo chiles, sesame seeds and mashed plantains • Amarillo: yellow-hued, contains no chocolate or fruit—just chiles, spices, herbs, nuts and seeds Fe, N.M.'s Museum of International Folk Art. "More people are making authentic products, but not all of them are exporting," Trilling observes. "People here are foodies from birth." Over the past several years Trilling says it's been • Verde: a rainbow of greens blended together, along more common to find mole powders for sale in spice with pumpkin seeds, jalapeños, tomatillos and fresh shops, which have a very different flavor profile. Now, epazote, cilantro and yerba santa ready-made sauces and pastes are also available via • Chichilo: beef stock–based, dark and spicy; a blend Guelaguetza, an Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles. of dried chiles, avocado leaves, onions and garlic, Jars of freshly made black, red and coloradito moles thickened with ground-up tortillas or masa harina are sold through the eatery's website, ilovemole.com. • Manchamantel: sweet and spicy, made with red Co-owner Bricia Lopez has helped popularize the line by chorizo grease, tomatoes, ancho chiles, vanilla, running tantalizing photos and recipes demonstrating mashed pineapple and plantains Susana Trilling, originally from Philadelphia, has been the sauces' versatility, such as an egg salad sandwich with mole negro aioli, mole coloradito curry chicken and in Oaxaca for 26 years and runs a cooking school, lamb meatballs in tomato-mole coloradito marinara. seeds grow and they'll be mixed into the corn for a tortilla. Another area is making them with coconut, another with wheatberries, another with bananas." Amaranth, spinach, beets and carrots are also flavoring tortillas, she says, and if someone could package them they could be marketed as widely as vegetable chips. "We're people of corn," she says, "and with all the wheat allergies these days our organic tortillas are gaining a lot of importance." Mexican coffee. Products like Organic La Perla de Oaxaca from Chicago's Intelligentsia and Oaxacan-produced Pluma Mountain 98 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com Coffee, based in Houston, are heating up the market for Mexican coffee beans. Oaxacan-style beer. Craft beers are becoming more popular in the region and have also inspired beverages in the States. Chicago's 5 Rabbit Cerveceria brewery created a deep amber-colored ale called 5 Vulture that is made with a small amount of roasted ancho chile and piloncillo (panela) sugar. Julie Besonen is a food editor for Paper magazine and restaurant columnist for nycgo.com.

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