Frida Kahlo's Pueblan Mole Recipe

One of my favorite non-food related experiences in Mexico City was my visit to the Frida Kahlo museum in Coyoacan. It's actually her family home where she lived with Diego Rivera, and it's filled with beauty, books, and traditional pre-Hispanic Mexican arts and crafts - a stunning example of the merging of art and life.

Of course Poppa and I cannot resist making fools of ourselves wherever we go:

Here we are as Frida and Diego - Poppa is making a mean face and I am looking sad because Diego cheated on Frida with her own sister, and therefore, despite his undeniable talent, was a jerk:

You aren't supposed to take photos inside, but who could resist a snap of this amazing kitchen?

I love how it says "Diego" and "Frida" on the wall:

Just outside of the kitchen I noticed a sign with a recipe ... for mole. One of my favorite things. There were museum guards lurking, so I began to try to write it all down, but Poppa is sneaky and took a photo, undetected:

Right away I knew I had to make a version of this, but the funny thing is, nothing here in the text states whether or not this is actually an authentic dish that Frida and Diego made. So I did a little digging and found out that it is in fact Frida's recipe for Pueblan mole,  translated from a book called Las Fiestas de Frida y Diego: Recuerdos y Recetas. (The book has apparently been translated into English, and I would be curious to see if there are any differences in the recipes.) 

The original calls for a entire turkey or 4 whole chickens, and since I don't think that even Poppa Trix and I can eat that much, I scaled it down to one chicken and cut back on amounts accordingly. And left the raisins out altogether, as I believe raisins are an abomination. That said, this serves 10, and I can't imagine a better dish to serve at a party.

Here's a better look if you want to make it:

This was very different from the dark, almost black mole I had (and loved) at Fonda mi Lupita - it was instead a vibrant brick red, with notes of  bitter chocolate, cinnamon, peppers, and a lovely nuttiness from the almonds:

Yes, there are a number of steps but the results are well worth it. I hope you try it!

Buen provecho!