Pipian Verde, sometimes called Green Mole, is one of the glories of Mexican cooking. A tangy, tomatillo-based sauce, thickened with toasted pumpkin seeds, it’s served with everything from chicken to fish and seafood in the most sophisticated restaurants and the most humble market fondas. Rick takes us to Fonda El Refugio, a famous home-style restaurant in Mexico City’s Zona Rosa, where the five courses of the traditional Mexican meal, or comida, serve as the structural framework of the show. When he arrives at the centerpiece of the meal, Pipian de Pollo, Rick takes us back to Chicago and shows us how to make it. Then, it’s back to the kitchen at Fonda El Refugio, to watch it being served up by the very special kitchen staff–dignified older women who have spent their lives cooking and have earned the honorific title “mayora.” In a country where elders are treated with the greatest respect, these kitchen “sages,” are guardians of the traditional ingredients and the old ways of Mexican cooking. Back in Chicago, Rick pays homage to the new with his own Almond Pipian with Fried Shrimp.
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