Flavors of Mexico: Mole Poblano

A hands-on cooking class culminating in dinner served with wine and beer.

Mole is perhaps the most popular and most feared of all dishes in Mexican gastronomy. It is a luscious sauce, complex and intoxicating, with a history that is as rich as it’s country of origin.

Mole Monday is an evening designed to learn about the tradition of making mole and the joy of eating it together.  Each month, Norma Listman will explore different regions and eras of Mexican cuisine through the making of a different mole; she will share stories of her childhood, and we will eat a traditional meal together (and drink to our health).

This April, we are celebrating Mole Poblano, perhaps the best known of all Mexican moles. Its origin dates to the colonial times, and it is surrounded by numerous myths and stories. Norma Listman looks forward to sharing the lore and to demystifying the complex flavors and methods one must employ to produce this truly authentic and delicious dish.

Please note: special dietary needs cannot be accommodated in this class; menu items cannot be omitted or substituted. 

MENU

Mole Poblano (includes local peppers, nuts, and sesame)
Frijoles
Handmade tortillas
Agua de jamaica

Norma Listman is an Oakland, California-based chef and artist. Inspired by her youth growing up in Mexico City, Norma brings a vibrant and authentic energy to the food scene in the Bay Area. Her practice both as a chef and artist is dictated by her heritage, she is most interested in traditional cooking methods and the historical periods of Mexican gastronomy. Listman’s passion for the preservation of her culture and her father’s life-long work with maize have ignited her interest for working with native varieties of the crop. Her interest in the preservation of traditional values demands the closest attention to local farming procedures. 

She began her career in restaurants in the front of the house. She managed nationally acclaimed Camino Restaurant in Oakland before deciding to follow her passion and become a professional chef. She was mentored in the kitchen by Chefs Anthony Strong of Delfina in San Francisco and Russell More of Camino in Oakland.

Included in her past culinary and artistic practice are Paraiso, an early twentieth century salon-inspired dinner series held at her Victorian home; A Sors, a historical-food performance commissioned by the Andy Warhol foundation held in commemoration of the beheading of the Austrian-placed Mexican emperor Maximilian; The Alchemy of Dreams, a performance-dinner inspired by the artist Remedios Varo; and a dinner  for Museo Experimental El Eco in Mexico City for their 60th anniversary.