This past weekend we headed south to San Pedro Atocpan in the city’s Milpa Alta borough to attend the 35th Annual National Mole Festival (Feria Nacional del Mole). Like many of Mexico City’s outlying neighborhoods, San Pedro Atocpan has a very distinct small town feel. Interestingly, it’s not too far from where we used to live.
San Pedro Atocpan is best known for the preparation of mole, a traditional sauce made from chili peppers and spices. The annual festival which dates back to 1977, features a variety of flavors, including the local specialty mole almendrado, or almond mole.
I was looking forward to wandering the streets of San Pedro Atocpan, but as it turns out the Feria del Mole is actually held on a fairground located along the main road just outside of town. In addition to sampling a variety of moles, you can enjoy traditional folkloric dance performances, live bands, carnival rides, an artisans market and an array of food and drink stands as well as purchase mole in paste or powder form to take home.
There’s an area of temporary restaurants set up within the fairground and you can sample the different moles while deciding where you might like to sit down for a meal. We sampled several before finally deciding on a place. It also doesn’t hurt to browse a few menus.
I opted for veggie-friendly enchiladas filled with flor de calabaza, and Carlos ordered the house specialty, guajolote, with mole poblano. Guajolote, he told me, is another word for pavo, or turkey. This is what it looked like when they brought it to the table. I like to call this his Man v. Food moment, and just in case you’re wondering, food won. It wasn’t even close. 
The Feria del Mole in San Pedro Atocpan runs through October 23, 2011.
Getting There: San Pedro Atocpan is located southeast of the city center in the rural Milpa Alta borough of the city. It took us just under two hours on public transportation to get there from our apartment which is just south of the Centro Histórico. Depending on where you’re starting from, you can either take the metro or trolleybus to Taxqueña, then take the route 81 bus, or pesero, all the way to the fair. The pesero passes through Xochimilco and stops directly in front of the fairground. You can’t miss it.
Travel Tip: Travelers headed to Mexico City can easily book airline tickets from destinations throughout North America and Europe. For the best chance of finding a cheap flight be sure to plan ahead and book early.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Love those Molcalli vessels… well, what’s in them in more so.
I just ate and now I’m really disappointed in what I had.