making me want to start a food blog

I'm coming off a long visit with college friends (La and Ai) that took me to new states and up and down mountains with tons of pictures and stories to process.

One of the things that Ai and I did was take a cooking class (at the same school, Casa de los Sabores, that my friend S and I did in July when she visited) where we learned to make black mole (the "king" of moles), squash blossom quesadillas with homemade tortillas, rice, and mango sorbet. This time I not only took copious notes to replicate recipes, but I also photographed the stages.... and our market trip.

We met up mid-morning and Pilar took us (Ai and I, a Texan threesome, an Aussie woman, and a young German couple) through the menu and shopping list and we set off for the market. It's always weird since so much of that stage is part of my weekly routine, to step back and see it as a cultural adventure takes me back a sec.


Squash blossom flowers (they taste like zucchini).

Basil, camomile and other herbs used for limpias (ritual cleansings) rather than cooking, people are actually really surprised and want to know more when I buy basil for eating.

The pale green are chayote (a bland squash like thing).

Dried maguey worms on thread.
We came back to the cooking school and Pilar arranged all the ingredients in baskets, one for each dish before walking us through the preparation stages.

Everything needed to make black mole (the color comes from the toasted-- and burnt-- seeds and nuts).

Comal roasting tomatoes to make a red salsa.
Pan fried plantains in lard (a crucial part of this dish) used as both elements of the mole and garnish.
The masa (ground corn and water) is ready and Pilar demonstrates how to form tortillas.


All the elements for the quesadillas, tortillas on the comal, squash flowers sauteed with onions, and quesadillas on the same comal.



Ai demonstrates tortilla making, flat, not too thin so it tears and then carefully placed on the comal.



The finished product of chicken in black mole!



It's definitely something I think I can make at some (with a lot of time to spend) and the complexity of the flavors really can't be replicated with the jarred masa. Tortillas I don't feel the need to make from scratch, although they are amazing right off the comal.