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August kicks off one of the most delicious seasons for Mexican cuisine. The season of chiles en nogada, an appetizer or preparation for national holidays, delights us with its surprising and bittersweet flavor and unites Mexicans in a great tradition of taste.
This delicious delicacy has a curious folk story about its origin. Some say that the nuns of the convent of Santa Mónica in Puebla had to prepare their best dish to celebrate the birthday of the independence leader Agustín de Iturbide and that is how the famous chili peppers were born.
However, the archaeologist Eduardo Merlo, current coordinator of Archeology at the INAH Center in Puebla, denies that version in his article The myth of the chiles en nogada and the flag of the three guarantees. For the newspaper Milenio. The chili en nogada was a dish the caudillo enjoyed. But it was not created for him. It was a dish that already existed. He says, and not as a main course, but as dessert. Says the also cultural promoter.
According to Merlo, the true origin of the dish dates back to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, where the first settlers were the most Andalusians, who had a rich pastry tradition inherited by the Arabs. «In Spain, they used to fill the pepper with something, and that is why the nuns came up with the idea of filling it with fresh fruit and weathering to present it as a dessert,» says Merlo, who also points out that the dish was known as Chile stuffed with fruit bathed in a salsa of nuts.
After the struggles for independence and after he proclaimed the Plan of Iguala, Iturbide triumphantly arrived in Puebla. And on his birthday, the nuns had prepared a feast for him. The nuns listened to the story and very intelligently cooked the dessert (which already existed) but bathed it in Castile walnut sauce, which gave it whiteness, and added the parsley green and the pomegranate red. He stresses that they took the dessert to the bishop’s house where the banquet was held and told the caudillo: look, this one already has the flag of the Three Guarantees. The nuns say this dessert is for the occasion of the feast of their patron Saint Augustine on August 28, and the popular mind says that they invented it for Iturbide for his birthday, concludes the archaeologist.
Whatever the origin, don’t forget to celebrate the season of one of the most emblematic dishes of Mexican cuisine. We recommend you try the chiles en nogada at the Cantina Palacio and the restaurants at El Palacio de Hierro.
Their chiles en nogada come from ingredients brought directly from Calpan, Puebla, the place that for more than 100 years has supplied the homes of the oldest families in Puebla and the best restaurants in Mexico. An exquisite classic available during August and September.
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Palacio de Hierro.
