Mexican Name Finder
Main dishSpanishOaxaca

Mole negro

"black sauce"

Say it

MOH·leh NEH·groh

Built from

mōllisauce+Spanish negroblack

What Mole negro means

Mole negro is a Mexican main dish name of Spanish origin meaning "black sauce". It is built from mōlli (sauce) and Spanish negro (black). It is pronounced MOH-leh NEH-groh, and it is most associated with Oaxaca.

One of the seven moles of Oaxaca, named for the colour that chilhuacle chiles and deliberately charred seeds give it.

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: The plated dishes, most named for a cooking method or a place. Cochinita pibil is pork cooked in a píib, the Maya earth oven. Barbacoa gave English the word barbecue. Chiles en nogada is named for the walnut sauce that covers it.

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Mole negro means black sauce

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