Unfortunately every recipe for a real mole sauce I found required ingredients I just can't get here. The types of chillis required were all Mexican and we don't get Mexican chillis. Almost every recipe also called for fresh tomatillos. I have never seen a tomatillo anywhere in Britain and without ordering some from the internet at some massive expense these would just have to be omitted. There were other problems too; Mexican unsweetened chocolate, avocado leaf and Mexican Canela bark have never been seen anywhere in Britain by me or by anyone I know (although my chum Dr Welshegg once brought some Mexican chocolate back from holiday but that was all eaten years ago). It was going to be a tricky thing this mole sauce, very tricky indeed.

So I had to improvise.

To get around the chilli problem I used a variety of chillis, fresh, dried and smoked. The nearest thing to unsweetened chocolate is cocoa powder and a big dollop of this replaced the original ingredient. I omitted the tomatillos completely. In fact this isn't a true Mexican mole at all. I was originally calling this dish mole Oaxaqueño as that's what the recipe is based on but it should really be mole Manchestaqueño - it will be all the rage in the posh suburb of Didsbury when they get hold of the recipe.

So how was my mole sauce?

Really quite good. I was pleasantly surprised - it was much better than I thought it would be and I would definitely eat this again. In fact I will probably be eating it again when my blog finishes in a week because I made so much sauce I now have two large jars of the stuff sitting in the freezer. Lucky me. Unless auction them on Ebay - bids to start at thruppence.


Cake Blog

Vanilla Natas: From Costa Coffee - a bit like a very well made custard tart with cinnamon on top.


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