Eat hearty on the Eléctrico Mezcal Palenque

The people of San Baltazar Guelavila, Oaxaca, know how to eat, and the Eléctrico Mezcalero family is no exception. Eugenia can cook remarkable things over an open fire, whether it's scrambled eggs with cheese for breakfast or fried chicken.

But her mole negro is a secret that can only be prepared at home. Generously poured over moist steaming chicken and mopped up with warm corn tortillas, it is a delicacy to match any Michelin-starred restaurant.

There are seven moles (sauces) that define Oaxacan cuisine. The others are:

• Mole Poblano, the ubiquitous red mole;

• Mole Verde, its vibrant green color and flavor coming from pumpkin seeds, jalapeños, cilantro and tomatillos;

• Mole Chichilo, rich with beef stock and with ancho, arbol, and guajillo chiles instead of chocolate;

• Mole Amarillo, spicy and thickened with corn;

• Mole Coloradito, thickened and sweetened with mashed plantain;

• Mole Manchamantel is fruity with pineapple and tomatoes and is named the ‘tablecloth stainer’ because of the paprika oil that oozes from the chorizo.

But the monarch of moles is Black Mole, Mole Negro, and the 50 ingredients and two days of careful preparation needed to make Eugenia’s Mole Negro contains secrets that she will take to her grave. Like most Oaxacan Mole Negro, there is chocolate, cloves, cumin and cinnamon, and the essential hoja santa herb that imbues the sauce with a hint of licorice, but beyond that is Eugenia’s alchemy to match her husband Cirino’s magical Eléctrico Mezcal.

In fact, Eléctrico Mezcal and Eugenia’s Pollo con Mole Negro are as perfect a complement to each other as Cirino and Eugenia are themselves.