THE MEXICAN EVOLUTION
THE PATRIOTIC PEPPER
Chiles en Nogada is a traditional Mexican dish made of poblanopicadillo. Chiles stuffed with the dish is believed to have been invented in the nineteenth century by nuns in the town of Puebla.
Since the dish has the colors of the Mexican flag and originated around the time of Mexican independence, it is considered one of Mexico’s most patriotic dishes and is sometimes said to be Mexico's national dish, although generally that distinction goes to Mole Poblano.
In Mexico, they have Mariachis for the music-a, and marination for chiles, usually the poblanos soaking them in lime juice. The Chiles en Nogada, by some calls for soaking the chiles overnight in lime juice. Poblanos chile peppers are available year round and in the United States they are mainly grown in California, New Mexico and Texas.
Chilis En Nogada — Is a dish, that is traditionally served at room temperature with cold cream sauce, from Mexican cuisine. The name comes from the Spanish word for the walnut tree, nogal. It consists of poblano chilis filled with (a mixture usually containing shredded meat, aromatics, fruits and spices)
It is topped with a walnut-based cream sauce, called nogada, pomegranate and seeds. This gives it giving it the three colors of the Mexican flag: green from the chili; white from the nut sauce and red from the pomegranate. The walnut used to prepare nogada is a cultivar called Nogal de Castilla or Castilian Walnut.
The traditional chile en nogada is from Puebla; it is tied to the independence of this country since it is said they were prepared for the first time to entertain the emperor Agustín de Iturbide when he came to the city after his naming as Agustín I. This dish is a source of pride for the inhabitants of the state of Puebla. Some Mexican historians believe the inventors of this dish were the Monjas Clarisas, although others think they were the Madres Contemplativas Agustinas of the convent of Santa Mónica, Puebla.
Picadillo Filling — The picadillo usually contains panocheraapple (manzana panochera sweet-milk pear), (pera de leche) and criollo peach (durazno criollo). The cream usually has milk, double cream, fresh cheese and washed nuts. The traditional season for making and eating this dish is August and first half of September, when pomegranates appear in the markets of Central Mexico and the national independence festivities begin. In some areas, the dish is created depending on when the pomegranates are ripe- usually between early October and January.