Mole Love

By: Eunice Rios

Every culture has their own tradition and cultural food. In Mexico, the most common traditional dish is mole. Mole comes from way back, to the years of Aztec times.

Mole came from a region in Puebla. It symbolized the way Mexico blended European and Aztec cultures. The Aztecs called it mulli, which means mix or sauce.

As the time passed, people from different parts of Mexico have changed the type of mole. There is black mole, green mole, peanut mole, almond mole, red mole, etc.Each mole is different due to their sauce or ingredients. Even though there are different types of mole, it still brings our culture alive.

My mom, Olivia Ramos was born and raised in Guerrero, Mexico. She grew up in a small little village called Zacualpan. The village is so small, that everyone knows each other.

As a kid, my mom never grew up with my grandma. At the time, she grew up with my great-grandma.

Every time my mom would go out, do chores, play games, or work, my great-grandma would make her mole.

“El mole era importante para mi porque fue el primer platillo que le conocí a mi abuelita,” she said. “Siento una alegría porque me acuerdo que jugaba con mis amigas y era una niña inocente.”

[Mole is important to me because it was the first plate I knew that my grandma made. I feel happiness because I remember when I played with my friends and I was an innocent girl]

Time has passed and my mom is always making mole for my family and I. She puts so much time and effort into making mole because all she thinks about is her home in Mexico.

“Pienso en mi abuela porque crecí con ella y era la que estuvo más tiempo conmigo en mi niñez,” my mom said. “Extrano mi familia y los bonitos recuerdos que tuve allá.”

[I think about my grandma because I grew up with her and spent more time with me in my childhood. I miss my family and the nice memories I’ve had over there.]

“Tenía 15 años cuando aprendí pero yo aprendi hacer mole mirándola. Siempre cuando me servia el platillo de mole, me daba un beso en el cachete,” she said.

[I was 15 years old when I learned how to make mole, but I learned by watching her. Every time she’d serve me a plate of mole, she would give me a kiss on the cheek.]

Everyone’s culture has their foods. For my mom, it’s mole and whatever she makes, I see how much she puts into it. She takes her time putting the ingredients and takes a while doing it. My mom’s love for mole and her home are strong. “A mi, el mole significa el amor. Yo amaba mi abuela y me lo hacía con amor,” she said.

[To me, mole means love. I loved my grandma and made it for me with love.]

“Aunque mi familia está lejos, todavía los siento cerca cuando lo hago. Porque siempre están en mi mente y el mole me hace sentir como si los tuviera cerca.”

[Even though my family is far away, I still feel like they’re close when I make it. It’s because they’re always on my mind and mole makes me feel as if they were close.]

Joselyn Sandoval, a junior at Yerba Buena High School. Her family is from Culiacan, Sinaloa and her family’s main dish is mole. “It’s part of us, it brings our culture, and we grew up eating it,” she said.

People say that food is just food you eat everyday, when in reality, it has a meaning. There’s always that person or people in your mind when you see/eat that certain food.

“I think of my mom because she made it and she’s important to me. She’s not just my mom, she’s like my best friend,” she said. “I miss my grandpa because he’s the only grandpa I have left. He’s important to me.”

“It signifies family because whenever my family and I eat it, we eat it as a family and we eat it together.”

Melanie Nuñez is a junior at YB and mole is one of her favorite foods. Growing up as a child, she would eat it and think about her family in Mexico.

“I grew up eating it because my mom grew up learning the recipe,” she said. I think of my grandma when I eat it.”

Mole is one of the important foods in Mexican culture. It impacts us because we grew up eating it. It’s not just a food we eat, it’s part of us. “It has an impact on my family because my mom makes it often and we all love it in my household,” said Melanie.

As I grow up, I start to know more about where I come from and how important food is to my culture. There are many types of Mexican food. For example, there is pozole, enchiladas, barbacoa, tamales, and other dishes too, but the main dish is mole.

When I went to Mexico to visit my family, the first thing we ate was mole. When I tasted how sweet and savory it was, it felt like home. It tasted like how my mom made it. Now that I know more about the importance of the dish, I like it more.

Mole brings our family together. As the time passes, I will always and forever have my mother’s story in my heart. She misses her grandma, but I know that when she makes mole, she has her grandma in her heart and mind.