Gluten Free Experience In Oaxaca City

If you follow along you know how much we like everything to do with molé. From the history to the chiles to the preparation to the plating we love our molé. So what could be better for us than a trip to where it all comes from, Oaxaca City. With the abundance of corn as an ingredient in Mexico we thought eating gluten free should be a snap on this trip but the actual experience was quite different.

Hidden Gluten

We found gluten in two places we hadn’t expected. The most disappointing for us was that many places thicken their molé with bread. This is not traditional so it was surprising how widespread this practice was. We found a few places that said they didn’t do that and we ate there without getting sick so we want to let you know about those.

The second place we found gluten was in the chips restaurants were serving. There were several that had wheat flour mixed with the masa to make their tortillas and chips. This one can be more difficult because the servers often don’t know how their chips are made. It was often a matter of ‘when in doubt, do without’.

Mezcal y Molé

From the time we first started planning this trip we were attracted to Mezcal y Molé, an intriguing tasting experience. They have worked hard to pair mezcal with each of their 7 molés. One is invited to taste the mezcal, taste the molé and then mix the two together in your mouth. This is a great gluten free adventure and we highly recommend it. This is a tasting rather than a meal so you’ll probably want a dinner reservation after.

Tierra del Sol

Another experience we were able to enjoy was at Tierra del Sol. Before they seat you at a table they introduce you to the three pillars of their chef’s cuisine: Corn, Chiles and Chocolate. Given the importance of corn in their food they would be less likely to adulterate it with wheat. We can’t recall how much of their menu was gluten free but we were able to enjoy this Three Generations Molé with a turkey leg. We also had a dish with Molé Blanco, which we hadn’t seen before.

Chichilo

This restaurant was on our list because they had a molé sampler on the menu. We were assured there is no wheat in their molés and really enjoyed trying them all. Even in Oaxaca everyone has a different idea of what the ‘7 Molés Of Oaxaca’ are. This experience had 2 molés we hadn’t heard of and left off some that show up most often. This just helps make it interesting as well as giving us more molés to make!

Casa Oaxaca

One of the experiences that was less enjoyable was Casa Oaxaca. This restaurant shows up on a lot of lists of recommended places but it fell short for us. On the plus side there are some really good gluten free dishes here but they kept taking the food away before we were finished with it. It was as if they were trying to rush us out but they had a lot of empty tables so it made no sense. For example, they made salsa tableside, brought us a big basket of nice looking tortillas and then took it all away ten minutes later. We advised others who were going there to be vigilant and hang onto your food. They kind of snuck in and took it away so we didn’t have a chance to say anything.

We started with a really tasty carpaccio and then for mains we had the short rib with molé manchamanteles as well as the catch of the day with chintextle chile paste and it was all truly delicious. If only we’d had time to savor it all.

Molé In The Markets

There are so many food stalls in the markets in Oaxaca. We took a Oaxaca Street Food tour that went to three markets and sampled several of the food stalls. It was very tricky to get the vendors to understand the concept of gluten and most had a difficult time accommodating us. Our group was treated to a 4 molé sampler and only one of them was gluten free. there were several other instances on this tour where there just wasn’t a gluten free option. We felt that all in all the tour was well worth doing and we found ourselves back at the markets later in our stay.

Las Quince Letras

Las Quince Letras was another place that had been on our list. It’s possible we landed at the wrong place for dinner last night but it was still interesting and delicious at Las Quince Letras.

Now we have learned that some Moles have bread used in them so that has made it hard for Matthew to try allll the Moles but this place actually indicated GF choices. BTW, we also carry a card in Spanish that he had made that briefly explains his allergy to gluten and that it can make him sick because many servers do not speak English.

Matthew picked Duo De Moles-A flavorful pairing of two traditional Oaxacan moles: a green mole served with tender pork (it wasn’t that tender) and a rich red cegueza mole accompanied by savory beef (it just fell apart).

For me I decided on Tasajo a la oaxaquena-A savory grilled beef slice topped with melted Oaxaca quesillo accompanied by a red mole enchilada. That beef was a huge slice and when the cheese was warm it was this ooey gooey delight.

We enjoyed a couple of cocktails of course and then for dessert a flan which was made with cheese which basically had the texture of a cheesecake. Gorgeous and such a treat.

Origen

For dinner we had a reservation at Origen. This was a weird experience. It’s a high end place but had the weirdest service and activities going on like with a guy moving chairs around and just in general weird and lacking attention to customers. Food was pretty good though. Matthew had pork tenderloin with a couple Moles and Kelly went for tomato salad with dragon fruit reduction.

Business Card

We made a business card that explains our gluten allergy in Spanish. This has been very helpful in a lot of circumstances. Generally speaking, most servers can read and understand the allergy and they can convey that to the kitchen. We have been in circumstances where the person we are dealing with can’t read and also can’t understand our accent if we read the card to them, but mostly this is helpful.

Menus

We’ll leave you with the menus from some of the places we discussed here. There is a rich variety of food available in Oaxaca City and with care one can eat well and avoid gluten.