From Michelin-starred chef Rogelio Garcia, a collection of over 150 recipes for vibrant, contemporary Mexican food from the heart of California’s wine country

Convivir, which means “to live together,” celebrates the flavourful interweaving of traditional Mexican cuisine with the agricultural and artisanal abundance of California’s Napa Valley.

Born in Mexico and raised in Northern California, Chef Garcia takes inspiration from the local farms, ranches, and sustainable fisheries, and showcases his gastronomical heritage with more than 150 delectable recipes.

Including techniques for making homemade tortillas and tamales, Convivir celebrates a modern take on traditional dishes such as tacos, tostadas, sopes, huaraches, tlacoyos, and tetelas, and features deliciously original recipes like:

• Sopes with Sonoma Artichokes Three Ways
• Pork Rib Carnitas and Carrot Tamales with Spicy Carrot Salsa
• Wild Mushroom Tacos with Al Pastor Sauce
• Prawn Ceviche with Choclo, Garnet Yams, and Pears
• Huevos Motuleños with Smoked Duck and Mushrooms a la Cazuelita
• Agridulce Chicken Wings with Verde Goddess Dressing
• Lavender Custard Pie with Masa Sucrée Crust

In addition to providing basic techniques, recipe variations, wine-pairing suggestions, and curated menus that focus on traditional Mexican holidays, Convivir invites you to come together in the sacred space of a shared table and delight in the rich culinary history of Mexico.

---

Brined Chicken with Pumpkin Mole

Mole de calabaza, or “pumpkin mole,” is typically served during Día de los Muertos celebrations. Here, it is paired with chicken that is first brined to ensure moister, more tender meat and then roasted. The mole recipe makes more than you will need for the chicken, but the leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you do not want to store the mole, you can cut the recipe in half. In Mexico, it is common to eat mole with a side of beans (page 260), a pile of tortillas, and no protein.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

For the chicken: 

12-Hour Poultry Brine (page 270)

2 whole chickens, cut into quarters

 

For the pumpkin mole: 

1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

One 2-pound (910-g) piece Cinderella pumpkin or 2-pound (910-g) butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into medium-size chunks

4 to 6 cups (960 ml to 1.4 L) chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian mole)

2 fresh sage sprigs

1 cup (240 ml) olive oil

¼ cup (40 g) raw peanuts

⅓ cup (45 g) pepitas 

1 sweet plantain, peeled and sliced

4 pasilla chiles, stems and seeds removed

3 cloves garlic

2 Spanish white onions, cut into rounds ¼ inch (6 mm) thick

1 whole clove

2 juniper berries

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick (3 inches/7.5 cm)

¼ cup (35 g) raisins

3 ounces (85 g) Mexican chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons grated piloncillo (see page 274)

¼ cup (40 g) toasted white sesame seeds (see page 271), plus more for garnish

1 corn tortilla, if needed

 

To prepare the chicken, make the brine as directed. Once cool, add the chicken quarters, making sure they are submerged in the liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day, make the mole. In a large pot, combine the butter and onion over medium-low heat and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the butter melts and begins to sweat the onion. Add the pumpkin and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for  3 to 5 minutes, or until the pumpkin just begins to brown. Add 4 cups (960 ml) of the stock and the sage, increase the heat to medium, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender. Carefully transfer the pumpkin and its liquid to a blender and blend until smooth. Leave the pumpkin purée in the blender for now. 

Line a large plate or sheet pan with paper towels and set it near the stove. Select a large cast-iron skillet (this will allow space for the nuts and seeds to spread out in  a single layer and toast more or less evenly) and place over medium-low heat. Pour the oil into the pan and heat the oil until it is hot. When the oil is ready, add the peanuts and toast them, turning them as needed, until they begin to color, then scoop them out onto the paper towels to drain. Repeat with the pepitas and drain on the paper towels.

Next, add the plantain to the same oil and toast, turning as needed, until nicely colored, then transfer to the paper towels. Continue using the same oil to toast the pasilla chiles, garlic cloves, and white onions and to bloom the clove, juniper berries, star anise, and cinnamon, always adding just one ingredient to the pan at a time to ensure evenly colouring and draining them on the paper towels. Once all the ingredients are toasted or bloomed, turn off the heat and reserve the oil. 

You may need to blend the mole in two batches, depending on the size of your blender. Add all the toasted and bloomed ingredients, the raisins, chocolate, piloncillo, and sesame seeds to the blender with the pumpkin and blend well, starting on low speed and gradually increasing the speed to high. You want a perfectly smooth mole.

The mole should have the consistency of a thick pudding. If the mole is too thin, use tongs to hold the tortilla directly over a lit gas burner on your stovetop until it burns around the edges and has a few burnt spots in the center, then tear it into pieces, add to the blender, and blend until smooth. (If you don’t have a gas stove, use a comal or dry cast-iron pan and overcook your tortillas until they start to burn around the edges.) If your mole is too thick, add more stock and blend again. 

To cook the mole, add the reserved oil to a large cazuela or other wide, shallow pot and heat over medium-high until the oil ripples or smokes very slightly. Keep a splatter screen nearby and add the mole to the hot oil. If needed, rinse the blender with some leftover stock to get every last bit and add it to the cazuela. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. As the mole cooks, use a large wooden spoon to stir it occasionally, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot and to stir in any oil that collects around edges as you do. The mole will darken slightly as it cooks, and it is ready when it coats the back of the spoon—the classic test for the correct mole thickness. If the mole is too thin, continue cooking until you have achieved the desired consistency. You should have about 3 quarts (2.8 L) mole. You will need only half of it for this recipe. Let the remainder cool and then store as suggested.

While the mole cooks, roast the chicken. Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a large sheet pan or two smaller sheet pans with parchment paper. Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Place the pieces, skin side down, on the prepared pan(s) and roast for about 15 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and roast for 5 to 10 minutes longer, or until the skin is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest parts away from bone registers 165°F (74°C). Remove from the oven. 

To serve, divide the chicken quarters among eight individual plates, smother the chicken in the piping-hot mole, and garnish with sesame seeds. Serve at once.

THE MANY MOLES OF MEXICO

Mole poblano, with its iconic chocolate-chile flavor profile, is no doubt the best known of Mexico’s hundreds of mole recipes. The word poblano means “from the state of Puebla,” which is widely considered “the cradle of mole” and gives weight to a culinary myth that credits the kitchen skills of the sisters of Puebla’s Convento de Santa Clara with creating this quintessential Mexican fiesta dish. In fact, mole clearly has pre-Columbian roots: the word molli or mulli appears repeatedly in the Florentine Codex, the sixteenth-century ethnography that is widely considered a primary source for the culinary history of Mexico. 

Moles are thick sauces typically made from nuts, seeds, and any number of different chiles along with a multitude of other ingredients, depending on the variation (red, green, yellow, black, pink, white, and more); the region (Puebla and Oaxaca are the biggest players); and the particular family recipe. In addition to nuts, seeds, and chiles, mole recipes can include bread or tortillas as a thickener, raisins, plantains, chocolate, cloves, cinnamon, sweet and/or black pepper, and cumin. 

There are over three hundred moles prepared in the various towns in the state of Puebla alone, each with its special variation. These complex, bold-flavoured sauces are often the star at weddings, quinceañeras, and baptisms in central and southern Mexico. Recipes are passed down through the generations and are closely held family secrets. Abuelitas (grandmothers) have even been known to hide their recipes from the younger women in their families, especially their daughters-in-law.

Recipe published with permission from Abrams Books.