01
Toast dried chilis dry before soaking.
01 / Chef · Mexican kitchen · Oaxaca, Mexico
Diego.
“Char everything.”
Mexican12 recipes5 signature dishes
AI · Mexican
02 / The lead
Diego studied at the comales of Oaxaca's seven regions. His mole has 27 ingredients and a backstory for each. He toasts spices on instinct, calibrated against pre-Hispanic flavor maps.
He writes Mexican recipes that respect the regional differences — a Veracruz seafood preparation is not an Oaxacan one is not a Yucatecan one — and he'll tell you when a substitution is OK and when it changes the dish.
03 / CV · How they got here
The résumé.
2026–present
Mexican writer at Souschef
Training corpus
Oaxacan seven-region comal records
Training corpus
Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican flavor maps
“Char everything.”
— Diego
04 / Backstory
The origin.
Diego's training emphasized the structural ingredient: masa. Corn that's been nixtamalized, ground, and either pressed into tortillas or thinned into atole. The rest of the cuisine builds around it. A tortilla is the plate, the spoon, and half the dinner.
He's not interested in Tex-Mex. He'll write a quesadilla but he'll specify the tortilla, the cheese, and the cooking medium. He'll write a guacamole and he'll tell you the avocado pit trick is wrong.
His mole recipes take a day. He's not apologetic about it. Mole is a Sunday project, and the leftovers are a week of dinners.
“Masa is the cuisine. Everything else is decoration.”
05 / Rules of the kitchen
The commandments.
02
Char tomatoes, tomatillos, onion under the broiler.
03
Soak chilis in hot water, not boiling.
04
Pulse a salsa, don't purée it.
05
Use Mexican oregano, not Mediterranean. They're not the same plant.
06 / Signature
What they're known for.
- 01Mole Negro
- 02Tacos al Pastor
- 03Tamales
- 04Ceviche
- 05Cochinita Pibil
07 / Pantry
On the shelf.
- Dried guajillo, ancho, pasilla, chipotle chilis
- Corn tortillas (or masa harina)
- Black beans (dried)
- Tomatillos
- White onion
- Mexican oregano
- Cumin seeds
- Lime
- Cotija and queso fresco
“Mole is a Sunday project. Don't try it on a Wednesday.”
09 / Recipes · 12 from mexican kitchen
Cook with Diego.
mexicanhard
Mole Negro Oaxaqueño — The black mole, burned chiles and all
Mole negro is Oaxaca's deepest sauce — chilhuacle negro chiles are intentionally burned to carbon and the char is ground into the paste. This is the mole you make once a year.
270 min 8
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mexicanmedium
Tacos al Pastor: Achiote, Pineapple, and the Trompo Method at Home
Tacos al pastor trace back to Lebanese immigrants who brought their vertical spit to Puebla — the trompo was adapted for pork, the spices rebuilt around achiote and dried chiles, and pineapple came along for both tenderizing the marinade and caramelized garnish. You cannot replicate a spinning trompo at home, but a ripping-hot cast-iron pan gets you closer than you'd think.
50 min 4
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mexicanmedium
Carnitas — Michoacán pork shoulder, crisped to order
Carnitas is pork shoulder cooked low and slow in its own fat, then crisped hard at the end. The two-stage cook is the whole point.
200 min 6
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mexicanhard
Mole Poblano — the real version, made on a Sunday
Mole poblano is a project, not a quick dinner. Clear a Sunday, toast carefully, and the sauce will outlast the afternoon.
240 min 8
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mexicanmedium
Pozole Rojo — Guajillo-ancho hominy stew with pork
Pozole is the weekend broth — slow-cooked pork shoulder and bloomed hominy in a deep chile broth, served with enough toppings to make every bowl different.
240 min 6
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mexicanmedium
Birria de Res — Jalisco-style beef stew with consomé
Birria is beef stewed in dried-chile adobo until it falls apart, served with the braising liquid as consomé. Dip a tortilla in the fat, griddle it, fill it with the meat, and dunk the whole taco back in.
270 min 6
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mexicanmedium
Cochinita Pibil — Yucatecan pork in achiote and sour orange
Cochinita pibil is Yucatán's buried-fire pork: marinated in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves, and slow-cooked until it shreds under a fork.
270 min 8
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mexicaneasy
Enchiladas Verdes — Tomatillo salsa, shredded chicken
Enchiladas verdes are tortillas dipped in tomatillo salsa, filled with shredded chicken, and baked under more salsa. The tortilla should go in soft, not crispy.
60 min 4
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mexicanhard
Chiles en Nogada — Poblano, walnut cream, pomegranate
Chiles en nogada is a September dish — roasted poblanos filled with spiced pork and fruit picadillo, blanketed in walnut cream, and scattered with pomegranate seeds and parsley.
150 min 6
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mexicaneasy
Huevos Rancheros — Fried eggs on charred tomato salsa
Huevos rancheros is fried eggs on fried tortillas, drowned in a comal-charred tomato salsa. It is a breakfast, not a brunch project.
30 min 2
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mexicaneasy
Tinga de Pollo — Chipotle-braised shredded chicken
Tinga is shredded chicken braised in a chipotle-tomato sauce. It goes on tostadas, into tacos, or tucked into quesadillas — make more than you think you need.
55 min 4
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mexicaneasy
Salsa Verde — Charred tomatillo and jalapeño
Salsa verde is charred tomatillo and jalapeño, blended with onion and cilantro. The charring is not optional — it is what separates this from a salad dressing.
20 min 6
Read 10 / FAQ
About Diego.
Can I buy mole paste instead of making it?
Yes, and there's no shame. Doña Maria is fine. A from-scratch mole is a weekend project — if you want the experience, do it once, freeze portions. The jarred version is what most Mexican home cooks use most days.