I always look for a chocolate shop or two whenever I travel to a new city. \u00a0On our family trip to L.A. over the holidays, I had no luck getting inspired by the local chocolate scene. \u00a0The shops I did try to visit were either closed for the holidays or had moved to a new location. \u00a0You can’t always trust the internet to have accurate information. \u00a0I decided to switch my focus and try something that I knew I could only find in the southern part of the U.S. or in Mexico-Moles!<\/p>\n
I tried 2 different ones in 2 different restaurants. \u00a0The first one I tried was at \u00a0Red O in L.A. which is a high end Mexican restaurant that’s somehow connected to Rick Bayless, \u00a0the famous chef at Topolobampo in Chicago. \u00a0I had the chicken with Mole sauce. \u00a0It was good, but I had nothing to compare it to so I really had no idea what I should be looking for. \u00a0The second one I tried was at a restaurant in San Diego called “El Agave”. \u00a0This was also a pretty nice restaurant with some pretty nice prices too. \u00a0They served excellent margaritas though, \u00a0which made the prices easier to swallow.<\/p>\n
The waiter brought me a small dish of the Mole Poblano to have alongside the fish that I had ordered. \u00a0Mole Poblano is the most typical of Mexican moles and uses chocolate as an ingredient. \u00a0I tried it with some of my husband’s pork and I instantly fell in love. \u00a0The beauty of a mole I think(though I’m hardly an expert having only tried it twice in my life) is the complexity of the dish. \u00a0It contains over 20 ingredients including lots of different spices and chilies. \u00a0 I loved it so much that I started spooning it into my mouth on its own. \u00a0Then an amazing thing happened. \u00a0The heat of the chilies started releasing and a slow warming sensation began building inside my mouth. \u00a0It was the perfect amount of fire and it spread through my entire mouth-not just in my throat or on my tongue. \u00a0 It was a perfectly balanced heat. \u00a0I had never experienced such a sensation before and I instantly understood that Moles are at the heart of mexican cooking and they are Mexico’s soul food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I always look for a chocolate shop or two whenever I travel to a new city. \u00a0On our family trip to L.A. over the holidays, I had no luck getting inspired by the local chocolate scene. \u00a0The shops I did … Continue reading