Hispanic Heritage · México

Puebla

Puebla · Cholula · San Andrés Calpan · Atlixco · Huejotzingo · Tehuacán

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Chiles en nogada

Chile en nogada. Presentation may differ from this recipe. Jj saezdeo · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized source thumbnail; display may crop to fit.

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In Puebla, chiles en nogada turns the late-summer harvest into a plate of striking contrasts: roasted green poblano, pale walnut sauce, and red pomegranate. The filling brings pork and fruit together with warm spices.

La Gente

The dish rewards shared preparation. Roast and peel the chiles, chop the filling, and make the walnut sauce just before serving. Its familiar flag-colored presentation offers a starting point for exploring Puebla’s festive cooking, while its origin stories remain debated.

Sabor

Puebla's baroque plate is sweet, savory, and fresh in the same bite. Warm spice in the picadillo, fruit against the pork, cream and walnut over the top, and the acid pop of pomegranate to keep it from sinking. The heat is mild by design. The poblano is a gentle chile, and the point is balance.

Spice DNA · Sweet high · Herb low · Heat low · Acid medium · Smoke low

Seasonings to explore

Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. In the picadillo with the onion. Adds a savory garlic base.
Cinnamon, ground. In the picadillo, and the note that tells you this is Puebla.
Cloves, whole. Ground with the cinnamon.
Black Pepper, ground. In the picadillo.
Thyme leaves. A pinch in the meat.
Allspice, ground. Optional. Some families use it, some consider it Veracruz's business.
Hulled Sesame Seed. Not for this dish. For the cemitas you will want tomorrow.

From your market: six large poblano chiles, ground pork, a ripe tomato, an apple, a pear, a peach, a ripe plantain, raisins, slivered almonds, fresh walnuts (a pound in the shell), queso fresco or a mild goat cheese, a splash of dry sherry, a pomegranate, parsley. Acitrón, the candied cactus in the old recipe, is now illegal to sell because the cactus is endangered. Calpan uses candied pineapple or nothing.

Cocina

Chiles en nogada

The August dish. Make it in season or do not make it. Puebla does not.

Serves 6

The chiles

6 large poblano chiles

The picadillo

2 tbsp oil
½ white onion, minced
1 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 3 garlic cloves minced
1 lb ground pork
1 ripe tomato, grated
1 apple, peeled and diced small
1 pear, peeled and diced small
1 peach, peeled and diced small
½ ripe plantain, diced small
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ tsp Badia Cinnamon, ground
2 Badia Cloves, whole, ground fine
½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
¼ tsp Badia Thyme leaves
Salt

The nogada

1½ cups fresh walnuts, shelled and peeled of their brown skin
4 oz queso fresco or mild goat cheese
¾ cup milk or cream
2 tbsp dry sherry
1 tsp sugar
Salt

To finish

Seeds of 1 pomegranate
Parsley leaves

Roast the chiles. Over an open flame or under a broiler, char the poblanos on all sides until the skin blisters black. Put them in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let them steam 15 minutes. Rub the skin off with your fingers. Do not rinse them; you will wash away the flavor. Cut a slit down one side, remove the seeds and veins with a spoon, and leave the stem on. Handle them gently. A torn chile will not hold its filling.
The picadillo. Warm the oil over medium. Cook the onion until soft, then the garlic a minute. Add the pork and break it up, cooking until it loses its pink. Add the tomato and cook until it dries out. Add the fruit, plantain, raisins, and almonds and cook 5 minutes so the fruit softens but keeps its shape. Season with cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, thyme, and salt. It should be moist, not wet. Cool completely.
Stuff. Fill each chile with picadillo and press the slit closed. Set them on a platter.
The nogada. Blend the walnuts, cheese, milk, sherry, sugar, and a pinch of salt until completely smooth and white. Thin with more milk if it will not pour. Taste. It should be gently sweet and taste of fresh walnut, nothing else. Do not heat it.
Dress. Spoon the nogada over each chile until it is covered. Scatter pomegranate seeds over the white and lay a few parsley leaves on top. Serve at room temperature, which is the temperature Puebla serves it.

Some families dip the stuffed chile in egg batter and fry it before the sauce. Some do not. Both sides are certain they are right, and the argument is older than anyone at the table.

Pueblos de Puebla

Puebla · Cholula · San Andrés Calpan · Atlixco · Huejotzingo · Tehuacán · Zacatlán · Chignahuapan · Cuetzalan · Izúcar de Matamoros · Tepeaca · Huauchinango · Teziutlán · Acatlán · San Martín Texmelucan · Amozoc