Mole de Olla (Beef Stew With Chiles)
Mexico has innumerable beef stews: puchero, birria, puntas al albañil — but the most universal, according to writer Pati Jinich, is mole de olla, a true one-pot dish, often made for family gatherings, with vegetables like corn, zucchini, cactus and chayote added at the last minute. If the name seems surprising, Ms. Jinich said, the word mole doesn’t refer just to the famous thickened sauces of Puebla and Oaxaca, but any kind of “saucy thing.” What makes mole de olla a stew and not a soup is the rich purée of roasted dried chiles that both thickens and seasons it. Julia Moskin
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