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San Pedro Atocpan is one of the communities that make up the borough of
Milpa Alta Milpa Alta is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It lies in the southeast corner of the nation's capital, bordering the State of Mexico and Morelos. It is the least populated, second largest and most rural of all the boroug ...
in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley ...
. This location is known for the preparation of
mole sauce Mole, from Nahuatl mōlli (), meaning "sauce", is a traditional sauce and marinade originally used in Mexican cuisine. In contemporary Mexico the term is used for a number of sauces, some quite dissimilar, including mole amarillo or amarillito ( ...
, which employs over 90% of the community and provides almost all of the sauce that is eaten in Mexico City. Despite being in the Federal District and the second largest district in size, Milpa Alta is distinctly rural. Only 116,000 of Mexico City's 8 million inhabitants live in the entire borough, and as of 2005, only 8,997 lived in San Pedro Atocpan. The name "Atocpan" is from
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
and means "on fertile soil" The community is located in the northwest of the borough, on the highway between Mexico City and
Oaxtepec Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town posse ...
,
Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cue ...
. It has a territory of 87.65 hectares, and is about 2,500 meters above sea level. The land here is rugged as it is wedged between the Cuauhtzin Volcano and Teutli Mountain. This community was designated as a "Barrio Mágico" by the city in 2011.


Mole preparation

The community is best known for the preparation of mole, a traditional sauce that comes in a variety of flavors. Modern mole is derived from a pre-Hispanic preparation called "chilmulli," which in Nahuatl means "chili pepper sauce" During the colonial period, this sauce was modified mostly by adding ingredients such as nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds and spices such as cinnamon. While the flavors have multiplied and changed, the consistency of the sauce has remained the same. Almost 92% of the community's population makes a living related to the preparation and sale of the sauce. The moles of San Pedro Atocpan are not made in factories but rather in small family-owned enterprises. Moles of different flavors, aromas, colors and textures are made, but the specialty is "mole almendrado" (almond mole), which was invented here and made with between 26 and 28 ingredients, always with a base of three chili peppers:
mulato (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese i ...
,
pasilla The pasilla chile ( ) or chile negro is the dried form of the chilaca chili pepper, a long and narrow member of species ''Capsicum annuum''. Named for its dark, wrinkled skin (literally "little raisin"), it is a mild to hot, rich-flavored chile ...
and
ancho The poblano (''Capsicum annuum'') is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called ancho or chile ancho, from the Spanish word ''ancho'' ("wide"). Stuffed fresh and roasted it is popular in '' chiles relle ...
. The recipe is well-guarded. Many of these small businesses have networked to find ways to buy the more than twenty ingredients most moles need, such as chili peppers from
Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...
, eliminating the need for middlemen. Each family in the town has its own recipes for the various types of moles. The family of Guadalupe Rios, for example, adds apple to her moles, presumably to avoid digestive problems. Seventy years ago, life in San Pedro Atocpan was similar to just about any other rural community growing corn and beans. At that time only four neighborhoods prepared mole for town festivals: Panchimalco, Ocotitla, Nuztla and Tula, but those who prepared it were generally prominent women in their communities. In the 1940s, one family had the idea of making the long trek to Mexico City proper to sell some of their mole at the La Merced Market. It was successful, but they brought with them only two kilos, since it was made by hand grinding the ingredients. With the paving of the main road (now the Mexico City-Oaxtepec highway) and the introduction of electricity in 1947, it became easier to make and transport mole to the city. Since then, a sauce that was traditionally made for family use became a commodity for the town. The town now produces 60% of the mole made in Mexico and 89% of the mole consumed in Mexico City, adding up to between 28,000 and 30,000 tons of mole produced each year.


Community attractions

The community has two main churches: the Parish of San Pedro Apostol and the Church of Señor de la Misericordias. The Parish of San Pedro Apostol is a
Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
church that was dedicated on 28 August 1680 and declared a national monument in 1933. Its patron of
Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...
is celebrated on 29 of June of each year. The other church, Señor de las Misericordias (Lord of Mercies) is a modern building, dedicated to an image of Christ that is venerated in all of Milpa Alta. This church hosts a festival to this image each May that brings people from other parts of the delegation as well as the neighboring states of Morelos and
Mexico State The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
.


National Festival of Mole

The National Festival of Mole is hosted at the location each year in October. It began in 1977 with the specific aim of promoting the town's product.October in Actopan: Mexico's National Mole Festival
/ref> The first festival was not held in the San Pedro Atocpan proper, but in the neighborhood of Yenhuitlalpan with only four restaurants participating. It was held not in October but rather in May to coincide with the festival in honor of the Señor de las Misericordias. However, this caused problems with people who did not like the idea of taking advantage of a religious festival for commercial purposes. So the mole festival was moved to October, where it has remained since. The annual festival has crafts, food, traditional
Mexican music The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of musical genres and performance styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably deriving from the culture of the Europeans, Indigenous, and Africans. It al ...
, carnival rides and other fair attractions. Today, over 2,600 people actively participate to bring the event together and prepare about 400,000 plates of different mole dishes such as pork chops and rabbit in adobo, chicken and turkey in mole almendrado (almond mole) and mole verde (green mole) but the favorites are enchiladas made with various traditional moles.


References

{{Mexico City neighborhoods Milpa Alta Nahua settlements Neighborhoods in Mexico City