Mole Verde con Cacahuate Guerrerense

Guerrero, especially the Costa Chica running toward Oaxaca, has a green mole that does not behave like Puebla's or Oaxaca's. This one leans on cacahuate, toasted peanut, not pumpkin seed. That is the first thing to understand. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

The tomatillo gives the sauce its clean acidity. The hoja santa gives it that anise-green depth that tells you this is southern Mexico. The peanut gives body, sweetness, and the afromestizo memory of the coast, where African, Indigenous, and Spanish kitchens learned to speak through the same clay cazuela. I have eaten versions near Cuajinicuilapa where the sauce was loose enough to spoon over chicken and versions inland near Chilpancingo thick enough to hold a trail from the wooden spoon. Both belonged to Guerrero.

Toast the cacahuate until it smells warm and nutty. Roast the tomatillos until they slump and spot. Fry the blended sauce in manteca de cerdo. Yes, manteca. Oil will cook it, but lard gives the sauce its roundness. No me vengas con atajos. A blender is fine here. Skipping the frying is not. The frying is where the raw green paste becomes mole.