One of the world's greatest sauces takes days to construct

PLATE UP

In some dishes, cooks coax incredible complexity from just a few simple ingredients, revealing untold depths to a basic list of foodstuffs. This is not one of those dishes. Mole negro is one of the world's great sauces, and one that is constructed over a series of days, typically, using as many as 40 ingredients. That list includes a litany of hard-to-come-by specialty items such as pasilla, guajillo and chilhuacle chillies, tomatillos, plantains, Mexican oregano, avocado leaves and dark Mexican chocolate, along with the easier-to-source likes of cinnamon, raisins, pumpkin seeds, nuts and tortillas. Many of the ingredients are heavily toasted to ensure a dark, deeply complex and smoky sauce that's typically served over poultry.

FIRST SERVE

There are two basic versions of the history of mole: the simple one, and the complex one. The mythical one, and the correct one. The former is that mole first appeared as mole poblano, and was invented by nuns at the Convent of Santa Clara in Puebla. These devout ladies received an unexpected visit from an archbishop and, after a quick consultation with their lord and saviour, threw a few spices, fruits and chillies together and invented mole poblano. The latter story is that mole dates back to Aztec times, to a chilli-based sauce called "molli", that was tinkered with over the centuries, taking influence and ingredients from as far as Europe, Africa and Asia, and branching out into an almost infinite number of regional variations – one of which is Oaxaca's famous mole negro.

ORDER THERE

Head directly to Oaxaca City to taste Mexico's finest, which you will discover at acclaimed fine-diner Restaurante Casa Oaxaca (see casaoaxacaelrestaurante.com).

ORDER HERE

Honestly, it's not easy to find truly great Mexican cuisine in Australia. To sample mole, Sydneysiders can head to Santa Catarina (see santacatarina.com.au), while Melburnians should probably just buy a jar of good-quality mole paste from El Cielo (see elcielo.com.au).

ONE MORE THING

Enchiladas are a classic Mexican dish, and very popular in Australia. However, in Mexico, keep an eye out for "enmoladas", a similar dish of corn tortillas drowned in sauce, only instead of chilli sauce, it's mole.