Food, Gender and Cultural Hegemony - Kennesaw State University

Cualli 143
nuns of Puebla invented Mole in honor of Viceroy Tomas Antonio de la Cerda y
Aragon. Possibly the nuns, (influenced by the aristocratic Nahua girls being
schooled in the convent), and in search of a dish that would be appropriately
luxurious and stately for the Viceroy, came up with an elaboration of the most
celebratory food that Nahua culture had to offer: the mole poblana. We know it
was celebratory because it was featured as part of the marriage feast in the Codex
Mendoza. The chocolate as an ingredient made it appropriate for royalty (there is
no clear evidence if chocolate was part of the mole prior to the conquest).
However, the inclusion of European spices such as coriander, cloves,
cinnamon and ginger made the mole familiar to the Spanish Viceroy. Jeffrey
Pilcher remarks: "For mole poblano to have gained social status in colonial
Mexico…it would have been seen as a Creole rather than mestizo dish. And
notwithstanding the New World chiles lurking inside, mole would have seemed
completely appropriate for any medieval banquet," (Pilcher 42-43).
The mole had to appear as a Creole creation, since the "mestizo" was essentially
without social status in the colonial period. The genius of mole was that it had
crucial indigenous characteristics as a cuisine, and was also credible as European
cuisine.
Conclusion
This examination of food and identity in the conquest period in Mexico
suggests that several factors were responsible for the successful creation of a
creole cuisine that incorporated indigenous and Spanish foods. Similarities in
modes of food preparation, an attitude of celebration and reverence toward food,
and a relationship between social hierarchy and appropriate celebratory foods were
all important in the evolution of a hybrid cuisine that would be seen as "national"
by all groups. The influence of miscegenation and specifically the gradual
infiltration of indigenous women through marriage and concubinage into Spanish
society undoubtedly also were significant. The marriage of the tortilla with
chicken and pork, combined with chiles and cheese; the knowledge to blend the
flavors of chiles and spices on the metate; these factors resulted in a most
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