Story: Puebla, Mexico: Mole & Talavera is Good Enough for Me

I had been drawn to the idea of going to Puebla, Mexico, ever since I tasted made-from-scratch mole about four years ago. Our friend Bertha had made it from her mother Lupe's complicated recipe, which she had memorized.

"The best mole is made in Puebla," she said as she prepared the rich sauce from chocolate, cinnamon and half a dozen different chiles. Whether it's mole negro Oaxaqueno (Oaxacan black mole) or mole Poblano or any other of the many varieties of mole, most agree that the flavorful sauce ladled over turkey or chicken is Mexico's national dish.

I was hooked. I became a believer and started planning the trip.

My wife and I also are attracted to Mexican tiles and ceramics, particularly the style known as Talavera, which has been made in Puebla since the 16th century. We decided to spend some time there after I attended a photojournalism workshop in Mexico City in July.

The anticipation of being in Puebla after an intensive week in crowded and somewhat risky Mexico City was palpable as we boarded an Estrella Roja bus for the two-hour trip.

Puebla is a small city compared with Mexico City's 20 million-plus personas, boasting a mere 2 million people, including those living and working in its 10 municipalities. It is the third most populous city in the country, after Mexico City and Guadalajara.

As we wandered the streets in the historic center, the Spanish colonial architecture loomed, particularly in the massive wooden doors and baroque facades. Much of the architecture was damaged in an earthquake in 1999, but has been restored.

Talavera tiles, with their distinctive embossed blue glazes, decorate nearly every building, doorway, bathroom and floor. Interiors are embellished with massive tile and painted murals. Arched porticos supported by stone and concrete pillars create a visual frame around tropical courtyards and the constantly changing kaleidoscope of the streets.

The zocalo, or central plaza, in the historic center is surrounded by shops, cafes and restaurants, with the Palicio Municipal along one side.

The Cathedral of Puebla, built off and on between 1575 and 1690, dominates the plaza, and sports the tallest bell towers in Mexico. Rumor has it that one tower has no bell because it was built over an underground river, and a ringing bell could cause the tower to collapse.

The plaza is thick with ancient trees and flowering plants surrounding a large fountain. It crawls with insistent vendors, musicians of varying degrees of skill, lovers and families all day and well into the night.

All that sightseeing amid the aromas of the restaurants made us hungry, so we sat down for a meal.

Along with mole Poblana, which I ate nearly every day over chicken enchiladas, roast turkey and even with fried eggs on tortillas, I learned of chiles en nogada, a dish of poblano chiles stuffed with meat and fruit and topped with a walnut and pomegranate sauce.

Yet another reason not to leave. Nonetheless, we took a 20-minute taxi ride to spend a day in Cholula, believed to be the longest inhabitied city in the Americas. Our first stop was at the base of the Great Pyramid of Cholula, or Tlachihualtepetl.

Construction on the pyramid began in the second century B.C., and by the time conquistador Hernando Cortez arrived from Spain in the 16th century, the pyramid was covered with dirt and vegetation and looked like another big hill.

Today, it still looks like a big hill, with a portion of the pyramid uncovered near the base. It has been mostly unexcavated, because atop the pyramid is the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Remedies, built in 1594.

The Spanish liked building their churches in high places, and this apparently looked like the perfect spot. Excavating the pyramid would put the church in danger, although archeologists have dug five miles of tunnels into the structure, making it resemble an ant farm one third bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

We were completely captivated by the city of Cholula. I have never seen city streets so clean, and proprietors of the restaurants around the plaza didn't seem to mind one bit if their customers lingered for hours over a few beers or mango margaritas.

My only disappointment was not seeing bottles of the legendary Cholula sauce, with their signature wooden caps, on any tables in Cholula.

Still, our time in Cholula and Puebla gave us just the right taste of central Mexico's treasures.

Our compliments to the chefs.

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IF YOU GO

When to go: The climate of Puebla and most of central Mexico makes for an ideal destination year round, although from April through October, you can expect light to moderate rain almost every afternoon.

How to get there: You can fly into Puebla's Hermanos Serdan International Airport, which offers domestic and North American flights. From Mexico City's International Airport, Puebla is a two-hour, $15 Estrella Roja bus ride away. Buses depart every half hour.

Getting around town is as simple as hailing a cab, renting a car, taking a bus or walking. if you stick to the city center.

Where to stay: The range of hotels is broad enough to fit almost any budget. My wife and I stayed at Hotel Colonial, www.colonial.com.mx, where Wichita State University Spanish language students stay when they're in town for the annual summer semester.

The hotel's restaurant is noted by locals as having some of the best mole in the area. It is one block from the plaza, and the front desk staff is bilingual. The rates are about $70 U.S. per night, double occupancy.

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PUEBLA, MEXICO

Halfway between Veracruz and Mexico City, in the Valley of Puebla, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and four volcanos, the city of Heroica Puebla de Zaragoz, or more simply, Puebla, stands as one of the oldest colonial cities in Mexico.

When Hernan Cortez came through the area in 1519 spreading Spanish good will to the locals, he stopped in Cholula, said to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the Americas. Cortez tried to persuade the Cholulans to join his fight against Montezuma, but behind his back the Cholulan leaders suggested to Montezuma that they attack the Spaniards instead.

When Cortez heard of the skulduggery, he called a "meeting" with the leaders, then killed most of them. He then slaughtered thousands of Cholulans until they had a change of heart.

Cortez destroyed most of the temples in Cholula and had churches built on their sites. Rather than rebuild Cholula, the Spaniards opted to build the city of Puebla a few miles away, making it the first colonial city that was not built on the razed ruins of a Meso-American city.

Puebla is also the site of Mexico's decisive victory over the French on May 5, 1862. Despite the fact that the French returned the following year and soundly trounced the Mexican garrison, the Cinco de Mayo holiday iscelebrated in Puebla and by Mexican expatriates in the United States, but not so much throughout the rest of Mexico.

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's Independence Day, which is Sept. 16.

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PUEBLA PUTS ITS STAMP ON CERAMIC DESIGNS

Mention the words "Champagne" or "Tequila" and one usually thinks of the products rather than the cities or regions that share the names.

Likewise, mention "Talavera," and one is more likely to think of the distinctive, intricately designed ceramics produced in Mexico rather than the city of Talavera de la Reina in Spain, where the centuries-old method of tin-glazed ceramic ware has its roots.

Almost as soon as the city of Puebla was established in 1531, the Spanish colonialists discovered that the clays in the area were well suited for pottery made in the Spanish tradition.

It is generally believed that Talavera Poblano got its start when Spanish monks from the Santo Domingo monastery in Puebla recruited potters from Talavera de la Reina to teach the already skilled indigenous potters how to work the clay and make the colorful glazes. The intricately patterned tiles were used to decorate the church and monastery. Others say the Dominican friars were already skilled potters and taught the locals how to do it.

Not all Mexican-made ceramics are Talavera, even though some may look like the genuine article. Certification by the government of Mexico assures the distinctive Talavera style and quality is genuine, and, as it is with tequila, is only made in Mexico. Certified Talavera ceramics are mostly made in the states of Puebla and Guanajuato.

There were 46 Talavera workshops in Puebla when Ygnacio Uriarte established the Fabrica de Loza de Talavera in 1824. His son Dimas Uriarte took over the operation in 1872 when imports of fine ceramics from Spain flooded the market, causing all but five factories in Puebla to close. His son Isurao Uriarte inherited the shop in 1916, then called La Guadalupana, and began developing the distinctive "embossed cobalt blue" technique while incorporating yellows, orange, greens and browns.

Today, his retired 94-year-old son, also named Isuaro and great-grandson of Ygnacio Uriarte, oversees the production and quality of the ceramics made at Uriarte Talavera and conducts regular public tours of the factory.

Taller de Ceramica Uriarte (Uritarte Ceramic Factory) is the oldest Talavera maker in Mexico and still occupies the original address, 4 Poniente 911. The Uriarte home -- embellished with tiles and murals -- serves as the retail showroom and museum. Public tours are provided at 11 a.m., noon and 1p.m., Monday through Saturday.