It’s Chiles en Nogada Season!

A traditional Mexican dish made from roasted and peeled poblano peppers, the season for Chiles en Nogada, Mexico’s most patriotic dish, runs from July 15 to September 16. 

Originating in the city of Puebla, this time-honored dish is made throughout Mexico during the summer months, when pomegranates are in season. According to legend, Chiles en Nogadas were invented in 1821 by Augustinian nuns from the Convent of Santa Mónica in Puebla. They created the dish to honor General Agustín de Iturbide after he signed the Treaty of Córdoba, securing Mexico's independence from Spain.  The colors of the dish—green (parsley), white (walnut cream sauce), and red (pomegranate seeds)—match the colors of the national flag, a fact worth remembering on September 16, Mexican Independence Day. 

“Part Spanish and part indigenous, the plate is an allegory of the complexity of the Mexican people,” according to Eater Chicago, a Midwest foodie website. “Its emblematic colors and the myths woven around its birth have made Chiles en Nogada an icon of patriotic pride.” 

The poblano peppers are stuffed with a unique picadillo made from candied cactus or dried fruits and ground meat (typically beef and pork), which are then covered in a walnut-cream sauce (nogada), sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, and garnished with fresh parsley. Savory and sweet, spicy and crunchy, this is a treasured dish that is simply delicious. 

The picadillo (from the Spanish word for “mince”) usually contains manzana panochera (a small bittersweet apple), pera de leche (a milk-pear with very sweet pulp), and durazno criollo, an aromatic heirloom peach grown in Latin America. Carrots, zucchini, peas, tomato puree, cinnamon, and brown sugar are also used. The cream sauce typically has milk, double cream, fresh cheese, sherry, and walnuts. The walnuts give the nogada sauce its name, nogal being Spanish for “walnut tree." In some regions of Mexico, almonds or pecans are substituted for the walnuts.

Among the Pueblo Bonito dining establishments serving their versions of Chiles en Nogada this summer are: the LaFrida restaurants at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort in Cabo San Lucas; and Pueblo Bonito Vantage San Miguel de Allende, each named for iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo; and Melville Restaurant at Pueblo Bonito Vantage Centro Histórico Mazatlán, its dining room inspired by Herman Melville’s 1844 visit to the fabled port city. These three restaurants scale the heights of culinary excellence. Each will put its own special spin on a patriotic dish that has been tantalizing taste buds for over 200 years.

Visit us this chiles en nogada season to experience it for yourself!