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Complex Chiles en Nogada capture the soul of Mexico

The Mexican dish Chiles en Nogada — stuffed poblano peppers topped with a creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.
The Mexican dish Chiles en Nogada — stuffed poblano peppers topped with a creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds — is a tradition every September for the country’s Independence Day.
(Andrew Purcell / The New York Times)

Pork-stuffed poblanos balance a blend of fruit, meat and chiles

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It’s the dish Mexico craves every September. Chiles en nogada — stuffed poblano peppers topped with a creamy walnut sauce — makes a brief but grand appearance on Mexican tables and is eaten to celebrate Independence Day on Sept. 16.

“It’s elegant and a part of our national soul,” said Josefina Santacruz, the chef of the restaurants Sesame and Supra in Mexico City.

Considered by many to be the national dish of Mexico, chiles en nogada dates to 1821, when the general of the Mexican army, Agustín de Iturbide, marched into Puebla after signing the treaty that recognized Mexico’s independence from Spain. To honor the general and his men, local nuns from the convent of Santa Monica prepared a meal using fresh apples, pears, peaches, walnuts and pork.

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The nuns worked for days to prepare. They roasted, peeled and stuffed poblanos before battering and deep-frying them until the peppers were golden brown and lacy. Then they shelled, blanched and peeled freshly harvested walnuts, and ground them by hand into a smooth white sauce.

The finished dish featured the colors of the army’s flag: green from the poblanos and parsley, white from the walnut sauce and red from pomegranate seeds. (Those colors would later be adopted by the newly formed empire, and later republic, to become the first Mexican flag.)

The nuns had seamlessly combined ingredients from the Old World with chiles from the new one to create a meal inextricably linked to the story of insurgency, revolution and separation from Spain.

The success of chiles en nogada lies in its balance of fruit and meat, said Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, executive chef of the Azul restaurants in Mexico City and author of “Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana” (Encyclopedia of Mexican Gastronomy).

“The sweet, salty and sour tastes of the fruit, chiles and meat combine to create a very complex and delicious dish,” he said.

Contemporary recipes omit the battering and frying to lighten the dish and to showcase the green of the pepper. Dried walnuts, particularly those found in supermarkets in the United States, have lost much of the bitterness found in the skin and don’t need to be blanched and peeled.

Santacruz, a longtime friend of Zurita’s, hated the dish growing up.

“It was way too sweet, and the nogada was thick, heavy and disgusting,” she said. She refused to eat it for another 20 years — until she was invited to his house for the holiday.

When Santacruz arrived, she saw the emerald green poblanos, bathed in a pure white nogada and topped with jeweled pomegranate seeds. On each stem was tied a perfect bow of green, white and red ribbons.

And still she balked.

“It’s one of those dishes that if the first one you try is bad, you are going to hate it the rest of your life,” she said.

She reached for a chile and took a bite. The chiles were perfectly cooked, she said, firm yet still tender.

“I had not been living up until that moment,” she said.

Chiles en Nogada

Makes 6 to 8 servings

FOR THE PICADILLO:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground pork, preferably not lean
1 medium white onion, chopped
½ sweet, tart apple (such as Winesap or Pink Lady), peeled, cored and chopped
½ firm, sweet pear (such as Bosc or Anjou), peeled, cored and chopped
½ plantain, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground clove
¼ cup dry sherry
1 (14-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes with their juices
½ peach, peeled, pitted and chopped
⅓ cup raisins
¼ cup raw whole almonds, chopped
⅓ cup pitted Spanish green olives
½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

FOR THE POBLANOS:
4 cups vegetable oil, for frying
8 large poblano chiles

FOR THE WALNUT SAUCE AND GARNISH:
2 cups raw whole walnuts
¼ cup raw whole almonds
4 ounces creme fraiche (½ cup)
4 ounces queso fresco (about 1 cup), crumbled
1 cup pomegranate seeds
½ cup small parsley leaves

Make the picadillo: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high. Spread pork in an even layer and cook, undisturbed, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up meat with the back of a spoon and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until meat is crumbled and lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the browned meat to a large bowl and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, apple, pear, plantain, garlic and 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. Add 1 teaspoon pepper, the oregano, cinnamon and clove, and cook, stirring frequently, until very fragrant, 1 minute.

Stir in sherry and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and no longer smells of alcohol, 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and their juices, peach, raisins and almonds and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 5 minutes.

Add the cooked pork, olives, lemon zest and 1 cup water, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has evaporated, the vegetables and fruit are tender and the pork is cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and set aside until ready to use.

Meanwhile, fry the poblanos: Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan fitted with a deep-fry thermometer on high until thermometer registers 375 degrees. Working in four batches, fry the poblanos, turning once, until skin is opaque and blistered, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer poblanos to a large, heatproof bowl, wrap tightly with plastic and let sit 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel skin from chiles, leaving stem intact. Chiles should still be firm and bright green. Using a paring knife, make a 2-inch cut (about 1 inch from the top) lengthwise down the side of each poblano and carefully remove seeds and ribs.

Place the poblanos cut-side up on a rimmed baking sheet and fill each with about ½ cup picadillo, gently pressing the filling into the poblanos with the back of a spoon, until full but not bursting or splitting. Set aside.

Make the sauce: Purée the walnuts, almonds, creme fraiche and queso fresco with 1 ¼ cups water and ¾ teaspoon salt in a blender until creamy. Season with salt and thin with more water, if necessary.

Serve stuffed chiles at room temperature topped with nogada sauce, pomegranate seeds and parsley leaves.

Martinez is a freelance writer. This article appeared in The New York Times.

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