During the era of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1917, Langston Hughes’ father lived as an American expatriate fleeing the restrictions of Jim Crow laws and customs in the United States. Rising Mexican nationalism caused many white Americans to flee Mexico thus providing job opening for some African-American professional like Hughes. A young Langston went to Mexico at about the age of fourteen to live with his father. He provides wonderful descriptions of the food scene for the wealthy in Mexico City. He writes, “my father took me to call on three charming middle-aged Mexican ladies who . . . served the most marvelous dishes . . .—roast duck stuffed with pears and turkey with mole sauce, a [spicy chocolate based] sauce that takes several days to prepare, so complex is its making.” Mole, which comes in many varieties, is perhaps one of Mexico’s signature culinary contributions to the world. Most moles sauces contain chocolate and spices such as cloves, cinnamon, parsley, and pepper along with other ingredients.
