Holy Mole in San Miguel Allende

Well if there was ever a Mecca for the Canadian crowd that listens religiously to CBC, those you find at jazz and folk festivals, SMA is the place.  We had the opportunity to stay with two amazing people, artists Glenn and Vivian, at their incredible casa in a studio that would be an inspiration for any artist. We were inspired from the first time we watched the sunset from their rooftop patio overlooking the city. 

SMA was the ignition point of the Mexican war of independence, when a group of upper class folks met in the equivalent of a book club and started talking about political issues; the idea of social reform spiraled into a complete political change.  SMA still seems to maintain a political voice because of the wide variety of ex-pats and a vibrant arts community.  Conversations about global political issues are very easy to find in the midst of cocktails. 

The SMA arts scene has been important for may years with people like Hemmingway and Kerouac hanging out at local bars surrounding the center square. These same bars today don’t even get going until midnight and are still happening at 4 or 5 in the morning. 

A highlight was a visit a local botanical garden, which as you can guess, was all cactuses…I still think it is cacti.  One of the most amazing parts of the garden was a unique exhibit in the center of a greenhouse where some fun scientists had taken electrical sensors and put them in a cactus like it was a green prickly alien from area 51.  They then hooked up the wires to a stringed instrument that was like a harp made of a selection of very beautiful woods.  As the cactus reacted to its surroundings it created different electrical pluses.  The harp was programmed to hit specific notes based on the electrical pulses.  It was really interesting to hear – almost like a chant.  There was very little repetitive “music” and it was certainly not a p-funk cactus, but the sounds were mesmerizing.  I wonder what it would have sounded like at different points of the day, under different weather conditions, or if someone started up a chainsaw.

We found amazing food in SMA, some of it by chance.  After visiting some of the local markets we were getting hungry and spotted a 4 table, hole-in-the-wall place.  We were in the door just as it was opening.  The waitress came over and explained that it was a set menu and that the chef was really good.  That sounded pretty exciting and the idea of someone make the decision at that point certainly took away the need to stare at the menu while I was hungry, which is often torturous.  We asked if there were any nuts in the dishes and we told no by both the waitress and the chef who was also the owner.  She was a lovely lady that came out to say hi, which was a great touch.  Looking up at the wall as we waited for the first course, I saw a picture of her with a bunch of different people including Johnny Depp.  Pretty cool.

The meal was amazing with a potato consommé that tasted like the best buttered mashed potatoes as a soup, a vibrant salad with amaranth, and then the choice for the main course, pasta or chicken with mole.  Now, I know that mole always has nuts in it, but the chef assured us that there were none.  It was amazing, rich, spicy, and well, nutty.  Within about 15 minutes I was starting to feel like I got kicked in the stomach by an angry mule.  I don’t really remember the dessert but I am sure that it was also amazing.  My breathing was ok and if it had been a truly serious attack I would have been on my way to a hospital by this point.  Catherine was pretty worried and ready with the ole epi-pen, but I didn’t need her jabbing me in the leg, back or ass and screaming for help yet.  We walk through the street and through a market and I was getting sicker and delirious and then the time was right, and I projectile vomited over a bridge into a brook.  I was really pissed off given that it was one of the best meals I had ever had.  I was sweating all over, par for the course, as this was not my first nut rodeo.  I figured I was out of the woods at this point and I decided to walk back to our accommodations, straight up a 2 km hill.  By the time I reached the hilltop I had puked 3 times and I was feeling great.  So the lesson was that mole is never a good thing to eat when you a nut allergy, no matter what the chef had told you. Good times!

So, SMA was a very interesting place where cultures and people found each other through common interests and a love of art.  We ended our stay in SMA with an amazing evening of music and a tribute to Stevie Wonder by a jazz and blues ensemble in a historic theatre.  This place was truly unique, even if the mole had nuts in it.