Oaxaca is said to be the land of seven moles, though every cook I met insisted there were more — and that theirs was the best. I set out to taste them all.

The market as a classroom

Mercado 20 de Noviembre is where it starts. Walk through the pasillo de humo — the smoke corridor — pick your raw meat from a butcher, and hand it to a grill master who cooks it in front of you. Add tortillas, salsa, and grilled spring onions, and eat at a shared bench.

The moles

  1. Negro — the darkest, with chocolate and charred chilies; complex and slightly bitter.
  2. Rojo — sweeter, brick-red, festive.
  3. Coloradito — lighter, with plantain and sesame.
  4. Amarillo — bright and herby, often with chayote and green beans.
  5. Verde — fresh, made with pumpkin seeds and herbs.
  6. Chichilo — rare, smoky, made with burnt tortilla ash.
  7. Manchamanteles — "tablecloth stainer," fruity and rich.

A day at the palenque

An hour outside the city, in Santiago Matatlán, a family distills mezcal the way their great-grandparents did: agave hearts roasted in an earthen pit, crushed by a stone wheel pulled by a horse. The first sip tasted like smoke and earth and something green. The second tasted like a decision to stay longer.