Moles, Comida Oaxaqueña At The 4th Annual Feria De Los Moles

Los Angeles, California — The delightfully overpowering smell of mole filled the air along Olvera Street in downtown here on Sunday as what would appear to be a day-long crowd of thousands of people milled around, busily eating mole and other Oaxacan cuisine at the 4th Annual Feria de los Moles.

Mole, however, was not the only delicacy to be found at this event. Everything from Oaxaca-style tamales to nieve de garrafa to aguas frescas and more was available to visitors. About a dozen different vendors from all over Southern California came out to share their cuisines with visitors to the fair, which also included several informational booths, along with the traditional curio vendors.

But, c’mon, people were there for the food!

Men and women were scuttling about with plates that looked almost too beautiful to eat. There was the traditional mole — with such an incredible flavor that the taste came to you in layers — then there was also more exotic fare. White mole, pistachio mole, nopal mole, cuitlacoche mole, red pumpkin seed mole, mole for sale, mole on tortillas, mole on chicken and, well, you get the idea. There was tons of mole to be had in various forms.

Then there was the lovely singing and dancing. Because, the Feria de los Moles, was a very family-friendly event. After a while young girls in beautiful folklorico costumes began milling about, trying not to stain their lovely dresses with the mole they were anxiously munching on. Children looked up to their parents with longing for a taste of the yummy food and, since it was a hot day, many were complimenting their mole tasting with some cool, refreshing ice cream — not, unfortunately, available in mole flavors.