Mole Negro at Real Tenochtitlan in Chicago
In Chicago, mole—the Mexican mother sauce made from dried chiles, ground seeds or nuts, and assorted spices—has almost become as ubiquitous as our famous hot dogs and deep-dish pizza slices. It seems every two-bit taqueria features it. Of course, very few of them are serving up the kind of legendary stuff made for hours by bent over old ladies with just a molcajete mortar and pestle) and a rickety old metal pot in a Oaxacan plaza.
More likely, most of these moles are coming from some dried reconstituted mass-market paste. But like anything else, when the big boys get involved and start diluting the marketplace, it’s harder to see what all the fuss is about. After all, if Miller Lite was your first sip, you’d probably swear beer off forever. (Unless you happen to be Nick Lachey.)
But when you want the craft beer equivalent of a great mole in Chicago, everyone knows you go to see chef Geno Bahena. Unfortunately, Bahena’s an itinerant dude; in the last few years he’s spent time in California and when he came back to Chicago, he was often without a restaurant kitchen to call home. Thankfully though, he’s now back with a new spot in Logan Square called Real Tenochtitlan.
I stopped in last week for a taste, and his Borrego en Mole Negro, or medium-rare lamp chops swimming in a pool of mahogany mole made of chilhuacle chiles, had me at, "Hola." The layered spicy perfume of the sauce drew me in like a cartoon character following the waft of a fresh apple pie to a window sill. Bahena hasn’t lost his touch, and, unlike the corner taqueria, his mole negro is made from scratch, reportedly with 28 spices. Most importantly, he knows how to season, bumping up the earthy chocolatey tones of the mole with the right amount of salt—a seemingly simple feat that’s almost always overlooked.
I was so knocked out by the sauce that when we ran out of the freshly griddled tortillas to sop it up, I took the bare lamb chop bones and started running them through the sauce and sucking the drippings off. Thankfully, my scolding mother was nowhere in sight.
Real Tenochtitlan
2451 N Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago IL 60647 (b/n N Sacramento Avenue and N Richmond Street; map)
773-227-1050
realtenochtitlan.com
About the author: Michael Nagrant writes for Serious Eats from Chicago, where he also publishes Hungry magazine. Michael never met an organ meat he didn't like. He hopes to meet many more.
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5 Comments:
best mole i ever had was the chicken mole burrito in loteria!, the mexican place inside the los angeles farmer's market. i could live off that stuff.
sarahlucy at 4:00PM on 10/16/08
Yes, because Miller Lite is the most horrendous beer in the world. Give me a break. Just because it's big business & mass-produced doesn't mean it's just sewage. Not every situation lends inself to a John McSmith's Double Porter Cherry Bock or whatever.
worldcupfever at 9:10AM on 10/17/08
"I took the bare lamb chop bones and started running them through the sauce and sucking the drippings off.".....Dang! that's some good sauce!
FamishedFem at 3:16PM on 10/17/08
I'm not trying to be an elitist, although I see how it can come off that way. I actually drink quite a bit of Budweiser and Miller High Life (Champagne of beers!) on a regular basis, and totally agree with you that mass production doesn't have to mean poor quality (though there's definitely a trend that it does)...look at Sam Adam's...it ain't no garage operation anymore, and they put out some of the best beers in the country. That being said while Miller Lite is good in the "light" lager category for sure, against most full bodied mass marketed beers or even a full Miller High Life, it tastes more like water...I kind of look at it like Diet Coke...DC is fine for diet, but itisn't going to win best overall soda in a blind taste test....
Michael Nagrant at 8:37PM on 10/20/08
Actually, if you want something that tastes like water, try the new Michelob Ultra Pomegranate-Raspberry. Man, is that some awful stuff.
worldcupfever at 1:25PM on 10/23/08