Chiles en nogada
Roasted poblano chillies stuffed with a picadillo of meat and fruit, under a cold walnut cream and scattered with pomegranate and parsley.
What makes it chiles en nogada
- Poblano chillies, charred and peeled, whole.
- Picadillo of minced meat with apple, pear, peach, plantain, raisins and almonds.
- Nogada — fresh walnuts ground with milk and cheese, served cold over the warm chilli.
Where it comes from
The story most often told is that nuns in Puebla made it in 1821 for Agustín de Iturbide, just after independence, in the colours of the new flag: green chilli and parsley, white sauce, red pomegranate. Historians treat the neat version with caution, but the dish is certainly old and certainly Poblano.
It's a seasonal dish, made from late summer when the fresh walnuts, the pomegranates and the fruit of the picadillo are all in — so it lands on tables around Independence Day, 16 September. Whether the chillies should be battered and fried first is argued over.
How it varies
- Capeados
- The chillies dipped in egg batter and fried before they're sauced.
- Sin capear
- Unbattered — lighter, and many say closer to the original.
Be the first here
Start your own chiles en nogadaNo one here has made chiles en nogada yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
