A closer look at Mexican sauces reveals a complex, sophisticated cuisine.

If you''ve perused the cover story, you are culinarily edified on what you might expect to find at a handful of the county''s abundant offering of Mexican eateries. But, while you''re studying one of 100 or more local menus and arriving at the conclusion that chile isn''t just about a spicy can of beans, could you have guessed that a chile ancho is actually a dried chile poblano? These are the chile poblanos that you know and love so well as chile rellenos, the mild, dark green, cheese-filled, battered and fried chile that is standard fare in most Mexican restaurants.

Unless, of course, the cook decided to use the longer, lighter green Anaheim chile, also good for stuffing, and often found in cans bearing the Ortega label. Another chile, cousin to the Anaheim, is the long, bright red, chile colorado, the kind you find strung in colorful ristras, or wreaths.

Similarly, a jalapeno is the fresh version of the dried and smoked chipotle. Mixed with dried ground chiles, herbs and vinegar, chipotles turn into adobo sauce, which, if you don''t want to prepare it yourself, can be conveniently found in cans. There is little, however, that can outdistance a roast leg of pork in homemade adobo sauce. A feast day specialty from the Oaxacan region, it''s a sublime mixture that begins with a potent combination of spices that includes thyme, cloves, cumin, oregano, cinnamon and allspice, all mixed together with fresh orange juice, toasted ancho and pasilla chiles and garlic, to become both the marinade for the pork as well as the finished sauce.

The sophistication of any cuisine is gauged by its sauces, and the sauces of Mexico go way beyond the typical salsa fresca that much of America has only in recent history discovered at the business end of their tortilla chips. South of the border, table salsas may be as simple as a few ingredients, as with salsa molcajete. Taking its name from the three-legged basalt mortar and pestle that is used to grind spices, pulverizing the roasted, small, hot, green chile serranos together with garlic in this manner achieves a texture that couldn''t be duplicated by machine.

The typical, everyday salsa usually found on every table in small Mexican restaurants both north and south of the border, is made with serrano chiles that have been simmered with garlic and tomatillos, pureed and garnished with fresh chopped onion and cilantro.

The requisite type of chile plays an integral role in defining the character of the variety of complex sauces known as mole. Translated, mole means "a sauce or mixture containing chile," and styles of mole vary from region to region. Oaxaca is well known for its mole amarillo, named for the yellow peppers that give the finished sauce its light color. Another Oaxacan staple is the tomatillo, frequently referred to as the Mexican green tomato--only it''s not a tomato at all, but a relative of the gooseberry that resembles a small green tomato covered in a parchment-like calyx. The complex flavor of mole is embellished by toasting the chiles--blistering the skins over a hot flame or in a comal, a heavy iron skillet. Garlic, cloves, cumin, peppercorns and hierba santa, an anise-flavored herb, also go into the pot to simmer along with the chiles.

Another Oaxacan variation is the light red mole colorado, which calls for ancho chiles and chiles guajillo, a long, narrow, deep-burnished red chile that is sometimes called the travieso, or "mischievous" chile, because of its characteristic sting. Not only are the chiles toasted for this mole, but the spices as well--cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and oregano. Everything is simmered together with onions and tomatoes, and then the mixture is pureed along with raisins, blanched almonds, sesame seeds and plantains, becoming the consistency of a thick cream soup.

If red mole seems like an astonishing blend of ingredients, the 17th-century Dominican sisters of Puebla who dreamed up mole poblano may certainly be applauded for their colorful imaginations. This mole is a deep, dark, heady concoction that goes over the top with a flavorful array of components that include chiles ancho, pasilla and mulato--another smoky, fruity cousin to the ancho--as well as chipotles. Add tomato and garlic, throw in some cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon and aniseed, thicken the mixture with almonds, peanuts and raisins, and then add unsweetened cooking chocolate, and the results are multiple layers of intense flavor. All moles work interchangeably with any type of meat or poultry, but mole poblano is often the sauce for slow-braised turkey.

The original recipe for this particular mole was said to have contained more than 100 ingredients. Considering that the smooth finished result was accomplished well before anyone had ever heard of Cuisinart, the sisters may also be respected for their stamina, along with their contribution to a cuisine with a depth and breadth that goes way beyond rice and beans.