Mole Verde
"Green Mole"
From the treasured pages of La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 2
Written by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo
Mole Verde
"Se pelan las pepitas de calabaza y se tuestan, moliéndose despues juntamente con las cáscaras: se muelen despues tomates crudos, chiles verdes remojados y unos pocos de cominos, proporcionando los tantos para que apenas pique. Se frié todo en manteca y se hecha el guajolote cocido, pudiéndose añadir gallina tambien cocida y papada de puerco."
English Translation
"Peel the pumpkin seeds and toast them, then grind them together with the shells. Next, grind raw tomatoes, soaked green chiles, and a few cumin seeds, in proportions so it is just barely spicy. Fry everything in lard and add the cooked turkey; cooked chicken and pork jowl can also be added."
Note on the Original Text
This recipe reflects the style of late 19th-century Mexican cookery writing: concise, assuming a certain knowledge of basic kitchen practice, giving only loose proportions, and using verbs in the impersonal form. Spellings like 'se frié' for 'se fríe' (it fries) mirror period orthography, where accents and conjugations might differ from today. Ingredients are vaguely quantified and open to the cook's interpretation. The instructions blend technique with ingredient listing, because recipes were more a reminder for experienced practitioners than a step-by-step for the novice.
Title
La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 2 (1890)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo
Era
1890
Publisher
Unknown
Background
A charming pocket-sized volume from the 'Cocina en el Bolsillo' series, brimming with delightful recipes for a variety of foods and offering a flavorful glimpse into historical culinary traditions.
Kindly made available by
University of Texas at San Antonio
This mole verde recipe comes from 'La Cocina en el Bolsillo No. 2', published in 1890 by Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. This book is part of a series designed to bring manageable, affordable home cooking to urban Mexican families at a time when print culture was rapidly growing. These pocket-sized cookbooks were meant to provide clear, practical instructions for classic Mexican dishes, capturing culinary traditions from a transitional period in Mexican history—just after independence and before the great food transformations of the 20th century.
In the late 19th century, cooks would have peeled pumpkin seeds by hand and used a metate (a stone grinding slab) or a hand-held mortar and pestle (molcajete) to grind both the seeds and the fresh ingredients. A comal (flat griddle) would have been used to toast the seeds, and the frying would have been done in a cast-iron or clay cazuela over a wood or charcoal fire. Meat was often pre-cooked in a large pot (olla), and sauces were built directly in the same pot or transferred to the cazuela for frying and simmering.
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Servings
6
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), hulled
- 9 oz green tomatoes (tomatillos), fresh
- 3–4 fresh green chiles (jalapeño or serrano), soaked
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp lard (or vegetable oil as substitute)
- 3.3 lb cooked turkey pieces (guajolote), or substitute with chicken
- Optional: 9 oz cooked pork jowl (papada de puerco), or pork belly
Instructions
- First, peel about 3.5 ounces of raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and gently toast them in a dry skillet until aromatic, taking care not to burn them.
- Set aside to cool, then grind them together with their husks into a fine paste.
- Next, mash or blend 9 ounces of fresh green tomatoes (tomatillos), 3–4 medium-sized fresh green chiles (such as jalapeño or serrano) that have been soaked in hot water to soften, and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds.
- Adjust the number of chiles to achieve mild heat, in keeping with the original instruction that the sauce should barely have a bite.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of lard (or vegetable oil) in a deep skillet.
- Blend the ground pumpkin seed mixture with the tomato-chile blend and add to the hot lard, frying gently over medium heat until the mixture thickens and the flavors meld (about 10–15 minutes).
- Add around 3.3 pounds of pre-cooked turkey pieces (guajolote).
- Optionally, you may also add cooked chicken pieces or pre-cooked pork jowl (about 9 ounces) if available.
- Simmer everything together so the meat takes on the verde sauce, about 10 minutes.
- Serve with freshly made tortillas.
Estimated Calories
480 per serving
Cooking Estimates
Preparing this dish includes toasting and grinding pumpkin seeds, blending vegetables and chiles, then simmering pre-cooked meat in the sauce. Cooking time covers making the sauce and simmering the meat, while prep time includes gathering and prepping all ingredients. Calories are estimated per serving.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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