The Dining Season Begins
Dining season really begins in October.
Fall arrives, the leaves change, evenings grow cooler, and almost without notice, the holidays begin lining up behind it.
Recently, I came across the Food & Wine Thanksgiving Issue from 2024, with its promise of “33 recipes for your holiday table and beyond.” As I flipped through the pages, another story caught my attention: Fellow Spirits: Día de Muertos, described as a day of memory and celebration, and an opportunity to build connections across the table.
I continued reading about Día de Muertos, a time to remember and honor those who came before us. The celebrations extend through the season and culminate around the beginning of November – Or all Saints day.
There was something about that idea that stayed with me.
Today, the airport is unusually still. The plane was nearly empty, and when I arrived, Omaha seemed quiet too. Sometimes travel is like that. A place you have passed through countless times suddenly feels different simply because the season has changed.
That evening, it seemed appropriate to raise a glass.
At Proof in Midtown Omaha, we found warmth around the fire and seats at the community table. Our spirits for the evening included Hunchback of Notre Dame and Cruella de Vil. The names alone seemed perfectly suited for a night so close to Halloween and Día de Muertos.
A community table is an interesting thing. You arrive with your own story, but there is always room for someone else’s. Perhaps that is one of the reasons food and drink have such an important place in remembrance and celebration. A table gives people a reason to pause, gather, tell stories, and remember.
Back in the pages of Food & Wine, another story kept pulling me in: Mole Negro, from chef Fermín Núñez.
The dish itself interested me, but one of the chef’s rules interested me even more:
Mole Negro
Ingredients
- 4 dried pasilla chilles (1 1/4 oz) stems and seeds removed
- 4 dried ancho chiles (2 oz) stems and seeds removed
- 2 dried dried morta chipotie chiles (1 1/4 oz)
- 6 Tbsp sunflower oil
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup peanuts
- 1/4 cup Pecan
- 1/4 cup whole garlic clove
- 2 tbsp sliced fresh ginger
- 4 thyme springs
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 small white onion chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1/4 cup prunes
- 1/4 cup raisin
- 1 cinnamon stick 3 inch
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 3/4 tsp anise seed
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 1/2 oz Mexican Chocolate chopped
Instructions
- preheat oven to 400F. place chiles on sheet pan and bake about 12 minutes
- heat one table spoon oil , add almonds until toasted. add garlic , ginger, thyme and bay leaf.Transfer , set aside.
- add onion, prunes and rasins. set aside
- toast the sesame seeds and transfer to a mortar and pestle. Crush until fine.
- transfer to food processor. add the chiles. Puree until smooth. add water.
- heat remaining oil in a dutch overn. add the tomato paste a chile paste. cook about 30 minutes.
- stir in the chocolate, stiring constantly , about 2 minutes. continue to cook about 15 minutes. let cool and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
If he is in a bad mood, he won’t make it.
I love that.
There is something wonderfully honest about acknowledging that certain foods demand more than ingredients and technique. Mole is not something to rush through simply because dinner needs to be on the table. It asks for patience and attention.
Maybe cooking carries a little of the cook with it.
And maybe that is what I am beginning to appreciate most about this dining season.
October begins with changing leaves and ends with reminders of those who came before us. Then Thanksgiving approaches, bringing family, travel, familiar recipes, and crowded tables. Soon after comes Christmas.
Between Denver and Omaha, the miles remain the same. But food has a way of making the distance seem smaller.
Sometimes it is a complicated mole made with patience. Sometimes it is a an adult beverage beside a fire in Omaha.
And sometimes the most important ingredient is simply arriving at the table in the right spirit.