Chiles en Nogada (Mexican Festival Dish)

About This Recipe

Chiles en nogada is Mexico's most patriotic dish — and possibly its most exquisite. A large roasted poblano chili is stuffed with picadillo (a complex mince of beef, pork, fruit, and almonds), then draped with a cool, snow-white walnut cream sauce (nogada) and showered with pomegranate seeds and chopped flat-leaf parsley. The three colors — green chili, white sauce, red pomegranate — are the colors of the Mexican flag. Created in 1821 by Augustinian nuns in Puebla to celebrate Agustín de Iturbide's signing of the Plan of Iguala that secured Mexican independence, the dish is served only in autumn when pomegranates and walnuts are in season (August-October). It is one of the most labor-intensive dishes in Mexican home cuisine and the centerpiece of Independence Day feasts across the country.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 6 largepoblano chilies
• 250 gground beef (15% fat)
• 250 gground pork (20% fat)
• 1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
• 4 clovesgarlic, minced
• 2 mediumtomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsplard or olive oil
• 1 smallGranny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced
• 1 smallripe pear, peeled and finely diced
• 1 smallripe peach, peeled and finely diced (or 1/2 cup raisins if out of season)
• 60 galmonds, blanched and chopped
• 60 graisins
• 2 tbspcandied citron or candied orange peel, chopped
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1/2 tspground cloves
• 1/4 tspground nutmeg
• 1.5 tspfine salt
• 1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbspsherry or sweet wine
• 250 gshelled walnuts (preferably freshly shelled, not packaged)
• 100 galmonds, blanched (for sauce)
• 250 mlwhole milk
• 200 gfresh queso fresco or panela cheese
• 60 mlMexican crema or sour cream
• 1 tbspsugar
• 1/2 tspsalt (for sauce)
• 1 tspdry sherry or sweet wine
• 1 largepomegranate, seeded
• 1 small bunchfresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves only

Instructions

1. 1

   Char and peel the poblanos

   Char poblanos directly over a gas flame (or under a hot broiler) until blackened on all sides. Place in a covered bowl to steam 15 minutes. Peel off the charred skin (don't rinse — you lose flavor). Make a vertical slit in each chili; remove seeds and veins carefully, keeping the stem intact.

2. 2

   Build the picadillo base

   Heat lard in a wide skillet. Sauté diced onion 8 minutes until soft. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add beef and pork; brown for 8 minutes, breaking up.

3. 3

   Add aromatics and fruit

   Stir in tomatoes, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook 8 minutes until reduced. Add apple, pear, peach, almonds, raisins, candied citron, and sherry. Simmer 15 minutes — the picadillo should be moist but not wet, with the fruit holding its shape and the flavors deeply integrated. Cool slightly.

4. 4

   Stuff the chilies

   Gently spoon picadillo into each poblano through the slit — about 1/3 cup per chili. Don't overfill; the chili should close almost completely. Set on a platter, slit-side up.

5. 5

   Make the walnut sauce (nogada)

   If using fresh walnuts in season, blanch in boiling water 2 minutes and rub off the bitter brown skins. (If using packaged, soak in milk 1 hour, then peel.) Place walnuts in a blender with blanched almonds, milk, queso fresco, crema, sugar, salt, and sherry. Blend until completely smooth — 2 minutes.

6. 6

   Strain for silk

   Pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing with a spatula. This is what makes the sauce silky and white. Discard any nut skin debris caught in the sieve.

7. 7

   Chill the sauce briefly

   Refrigerate the sauce 30 minutes. Traditional chiles en nogada are served with cool sauce over the warm chilies — the temperature contrast is the point.

8. 8

   Plate (the moment of beauty)

   Place each warmed stuffed poblano on a wide white plate. Pour cool walnut sauce generously over each chili so it drapes like a snow cape, completely covering the green chili. Don't be stingy with the sauce.

9. 9

   Crown with red and green

   Scatter pomegranate seeds generously across the white sauce. Add a flourish of parsley leaves. The colors of the Mexican flag should be vivid: green parsley, white sauce, red pomegranate. Serve immediately.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian: substitute the meat with a mix of mushrooms, lentils, and grated zucchini.

• •

  Capeado (Battered) version: dip the stuffed chilies in egg-white batter and fry first. More traditional in some Puebla households.

• •

  Modern lighter version: replace the cheese in the sauce with yogurt for a leaner nogada.

Storage

Stuffed chilies refrigerate 3 days; freeze 2 months. Walnut sauce only keeps fresh for 24 hours (oxidizes and goes gray). Make the sauce the day of serving.

Frequently Asked Questions