From Chocolat · 2000 · Reconstructed
Wild Hare in Mole Poblano
Serve when
Bring it to the table as the second of the feast's dark chocolate mains — the dish that says out loud what Vianne only hints at: that chocolate began as something wild, savage, and savoury.
In the movie
Theatrical
- ~01:29:00 Armande's birthday dinner: the kitchen montage catches Vianne frying chiles and bananas and scoring chestnuts for the feast's mole — the most literal expression of her ancient-chocolate heritage. It lands on the long candlelit table as the meal's savory-chocolate centerpiece.
This is the dish where Vianne's inheritance is most naked. Her mother's people took chocolate the old way — unsweetened, spiced, savage — and here it darkens a mole over wild game rather than sweetening anything at all. The birthday feast is the film's answer to Babette's Feast, a table of the town's outcasts eating their way to joy while Lent scowls outside; the mole is the plate that carries the oldest magic in it, chocolate as the Maya meant it before Europe stirred in the sugar.
Ingredients
- For the hare:
- For the mole poblano:
Method
- Season the hare and brown it hard in the lard, in batches, until deeply coloured. Set aside — it finishes in the sauce.
- In the same fat, fry the chiles for a few seconds each until they puff and smell toasty; lift them into a bowl of hot water to soak. Take care not to scorch them, or the mole turns bitter.
- Fry the plantain, almonds, chestnuts, and sesame in the same pan until golden, then char the tomatoes, onion, and garlic until blackened in spots.
- Blend the drained chiles with the fried things, the tomatoes, the torn tortilla, the cinnamon and cloves, and enough stock to make a smooth, thick mole.
- Fry the mole paste in a heavy pot, stirring constantly as it darkens and thickens — about 15 minutes — then melt in the chocolate and loosen with the rest of the stock.
- Settle the browned hare into the mole and simmer gently, covered, until the meat is fork-tender, about 1½ hours. Serve under a heavy cloak of sauce, with sesame scattered over.
Substitutions
- Wild hare: rabbit is the closest and easiest swap; bone-in chicken thighs work too and only need about 45 minutes in the sauce.
- The mole: a good jarred mole poblano paste, loosened with stock and finished with a little chocolate, turns this into a weeknight dish — no shame in it.
- Mexican chocolate: 70% dark plus a pinch of cinnamon stands in perfectly.
Beyond the recipe
Watch & shop
As an Amazon Associate, FlixNFood earns from qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, FlixNFood may earn from qualifying purchases.