Mo-Kalli Restaurante, Tlacalula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, Mexico


 Mo-Kalli offers traditional Oaxacan cuisine with a focus on moles.  The chef is Catalina Chavez Lucas.  Mole (mo-lay) is a traditional sauce that often has dozens of ingredients and complex layers of flavor.  Our meal began with spicy peanuts with lime, as snack.  Then, there was an appetizer of a crisp empanada with cheese and beans.  We were offered a sample of sixteen different moles to taste with tortillas.  The moles ranged in color from black, red, green and white.  The flavors include rich, chocolatey black moles to spicy reds with fruit notes to moles with a Spanish flavor palate and more.  I am most familiar with mole negro.  There were two types - one with sweet notes and one with a bitter finish served for occasions such as funerals.  Our meal came with agua frescas (fruit water) of watermelon, cantaloupe and hibiscus. 

Our main course as a choice of pork, beef or chicken with the mole of our choice.  The food was excellent.  Learning about the variety of moles and the cultural significance was fascinating.

The restaurant is down a slightly challenging dirt road in a suburb of Oaxaca.  There is a nice bathroom available.  The restaurant is an open patio, so bug wipes are helpful. 

                                                        Pork with mole negro
                                                        Two pretty moles

                                                        More moles samples




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