Holy Mole: Festival, Cook Off Bring Crowds to Pilsen

By Kate Gardiner in Food on May 4, 2009 3:40PM

Dancers from the Mexican Dance Ensemble perform at Saturday\'s festivities.

Traditional Mexican dance, per the Mexican Dance Ensemble Saturday.

Dancers performed a variety of dances at Saturday\'s festival.

Kate Gardiner/ Chicagoist

Kate Gardiner/ Chicagoist

Kate Gardiner/ Chicagoist

Chef J. Agustin Bahena of Fogata Village accepting his award for best mole sauce at this year\'s Mole de Mayo, the first celebration of its kind in Pilsen.

A lucha libre wrestler showing off before his match at Saturday\'s Mole de Mayo.

Many generations were fascinated by the lucha libre wrestlers Saturday.

Lucha libre is more about the gymnastics - and the entertainment value of - wrestling - than it is about competition.

Eric Secor and his sons spent the day at Mole de Mayo, in Pilsen.

Lucha libre wrestlers performed many feats Saturday.

This woman particularly enjoyed the lucha libre, energetically challenging their every move in Spanish.

The Mexican Dance Ensemble attracted many families, like this one, to both sides of the state.

Nuevo Leon employed even the youngest of its employees during the rush Saturday.

Many of the kids spent the afternoon trying to remember the words to traditional Mexican folk songs.

This boy spent the afternoon perched on his father\'s shoulders, nearly eye-level with some of the wrestlers in the ring.

The Mole Cup - this year\'s award for best mole at Mole de Mayo.

One of the most spectacular parts of their performance, the swirling skirts of the dancers were a sight to behold.

Siblings, cousins and, well... kids were everywhere Saturday.

This street vendor stood just outside the boundaries of Zocalo Plaza, watching the festivities.

Spanish rice and black beans were a component of almost every dish.

These girls were shouting at their siblings, mariachis in the Benito Juarez Community Academy band.

This woman is a dancer in the Mexican Dance Ensemble.

A child watches the dance ensemble perform Saturday.

Mexican food, culture and wrestling drew more than 500 people to Pilsen's first ever Mole de Mayo celebration Saturday afternoon. The event, which featured bouts of Mexican wrestling (lucha libre), and a variety of mariachi and dance troupes, was centered around mole, a traditional Mexican sauce.

Naturally, we had to try them all - and happily, we agreed with the judges, who said Chef J. Agustin Bahena's (Fogata Village) mole verde was the best of the bunch. We like to think that the key to developing a good mole (mo-LAY) sauce is building layers of spice on top of each other. In his preparation, Bahena did just that. His sauce was almost sweet to start off, and grew to a rich, moderate chili heat that built up over subsequent bites. Where his colleagues failed, (bland is a word we used frequently in our notes) Bahena demonstrated mastery of the complex sauce.

In other words: it was damned good (and worth a trip down to Ashland & 18th St.).

On the other hand, the expected greats were... almost good. Established Pilsen haunt Nuevo Leon toned down its usually spicy mole for the event, perhaps to appeal to a larger audience, but in losing its usual spiciness, exposed the framework of its sauce - charcoal overwhelming the balance of chocolate and chilies they usually achieve in the kitchens. The same problem made its way to Lalo's of Maxwell Street, which did a great job explaining what was in its trio of moles on signage and well, encouraging proper mole choice - if not actually delivering much mole power.

But Mole de Mayo proved to be as much about the Mexican community in Pilsen as it was about cultural celebration. The centerpiece: a temporary boxing ring and four acts of Mexican wrestling. The elaborate farce, complete with blasting Rammstein and a referee playing director, had middle-aged women hurling insults and small children screaming for the better part of an hour; it was a welcome break from more classical traditions: mariachi and the Mexican Dance Ensemble.

All in all, if the festival comes back next year, (organizers said they're planning on it) we expect the mole-off to become a serious event and the competition to be fierce. In a city that's at least one-third Latino, after all, we have to have one or two people who want to duke it out for the title. (For more photos from the event, click here.)