Mole poblano is a signature dish of Mexico; we have verified places to eat it in Mexico City and Puebla.
Mole poblano · Mexico City
A complex Puebla-rooted sauce of 20-plus ingredients including chiles anchos, mulatos, pasilla and chipotle, almonds, peanuts, sesame, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, anise, plantain and Mexican chocolate.
Mole poblano was created in the 17th century by the nuns of the Convento de Santa Rosa in Puebla, when Sor Andrea de la Asuncion is said to have invented the dish to honour the visiting Archbishop. The Puebla original recipe runs about 30 ingredients and takes a day to make. The dish migrated to Mexico City through the colonial era and is now the canonical Sunday lunch across the capital. Azul Historico, Nicos and Cafe de Tacuba run some of the city's most respected versions.
Where to eat in Mexico City:
- Azul Historico
- Nicos
- Cafe de Tacuba
- El Cardenal
Where to eat Mole poblano in Mexico City: the editor picks
Mole poblano · Puebla
The sauce Puebla is known for: dried chiles, chocolate, seeds, nuts and spices ground down and cooked long enough to lose every rough edge, then poured over turkey or chicken.
Mole poblano came out of the convent kitchens of colonial Puebla, where nuns at Santa Rosa worked out how to grind chiles, chocolate, nuts and spices into a single sauce. The city has never agreed on a fixed ingredient list. El Mural de los Poblanos grinds twenty-six ingredients on a volcanic stone mill, Casareyna serves poblano next to pipian verde, pipian rojo and mole blanco, and the version at Antojitos Mellos in Barrio de los Remedios is only cooked at the weekend. What the recipes share is the method: toast, soak, grind, then fry the paste in fat before letting it down with stock.
Where to eat in Puebla:
- El Mural de los Poblanos
- Restaurante Casareyna
- Augurio
- Fonda Típica la Poblana
- Antojitos Mellos
- Comal
- La Casa del Mendrugo
- Clementina Cocina Poblana
Where to eat Mole poblano in Puebla: the editor picks