Gendering mole: masculinity and transnational cooking

In this personal essay based on ethnographic participant observation and interviews, I explore the gendered food relationships in one predominately female rural Mexican village juxtaposed against men from that same region cooking in New York City restaurants. As cooks in a French-inspired Manhattan restaurant, Mexican men with seemingly little cooking practice and perhaps knowledge become immersed in professional kitchens. Using mole preparation as a case study, I explore how cooking in differing situations provides a new framework to reconsider traditional modes of masculinity.