The first bite is smoky. Only afterwards do I feel the tingling of spice on the tip of my tongue. This is chicken mole. I needed to cook tonight – a’ la Like Water for Chocolate. I wanted to blend all of my emotions, all of my passion, into my cooking; take it out of my bones and into the food. The house is hot tonight and the kitchen even hotter. The doors are open for a cross breeze and Sia is grooving on the CD player, loud enough for the neighbors to hear. The air fills with the earthy musky scent of cumin as I grind the seeds in the mortar and pestle. The chicken pieces and slivered onions fry in hot oil over the stove. I finely chop smoky chipotles in adobo, trying to carefully remove the seeds –the keepers of the most heat. I chop unsweetened chocolate [...]
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