Serves 12
One
of our biggest holidays is Mexico’s Birthday, or the Celebration of our
independence from Spain, which happened on 16th of September, 1810
(Mexico's national day is NOT 5 de Mayo! Please, forget once and for all
about 5 de Mayo! 5 de Mayo commemorates a battle that took place in
Mexico, but it is not even a public holiday there, so it really lacks meaning
for us Mexicans).
So
over the weekend I cooked one of Mexico’s most emblematic and patriotic dishes,
the "Chile en Nogada" (Chile in walnut sauce). If you happen to
be in Mexico in the Month of September you can find it in the menu of almost
every restaurant! They are just delicious!
History
tells us that Agustin de Iturbide was a military commander who fought in
Mexico's War of Independence, and later went on to become Emperor of
Mexico from 1822 to 1823. In August of 1821, he signed the Treaty of Cordoba,
which granted Mexico its independence. The treaty was signed in Veracruz
and afterward he travelled to Mexico
City. Stopping on the way in Puebla, the townspeople decided to hold a feast to
celebrate the country's independence from Spain.
The
Augustinian
nuns of Santa Monica convent wanted to prepare a special dish using
local ingredients that would resemble the colours of the Mexican flag, red for
the pomegranate, green from the chiles and white from the walnut sauce; they
came up with the chile en nogada.
This
dish is very complex in its flavours and has more than 20 ingredients!
This complexity is due to the fact at that time Mexico was going through the
Baroque period, and its influence can be seen from painting to architecture, to
cooking and daily life.
250 gr. Pork mince
250 gr. Beef mince
2 cloves garlic, peeled, and 2 finely chopped
1 large white onion, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
3 plum tomatoes, cored, peeled, and finely chopped
2 tbsp. raisins
2 tbsp. finely chopped blanched almonds
½ Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
½ pear, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
½ peach, peeled, pitted, and finely chopped
2 baby marrows, finely chopped
2 potatoes, finely chopped
2 carrots finely chopped
FOR THE WALNUT SAUCE:
½ cup of walnuts (peeled)
½ cup milk
1 cup of sour cream
3 tbsp. sugar
Kosher salt, to taste
FOR THE CHILES:
12 poblano chiles (in SA I use large paprika)
2 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
Seeds of 1 pomegranate
For
the filling, in a little bit of oil fry the cloves garlic and the onion, once
they are translucent add the both mince and season with salt, reduce heat to
medium-low, and cook, covered, about 20 minutes.
Add
parsley and tomatoes, and cook, stirring, until tomatoes break down, about 5
minutes add the raisins, almonds, apple, pear, peach, marrows, carrots
and potatoes, and cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is cooked
through and mixture is thick, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and season
with salt; set aside.
Make
the walnut sauce: Place walnuts in the blender, add the milk and sour cream
purée until very smooth and thick. Season with salt, and transfer to a bowl;
cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
For
the chiles: Place the chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet or a skillet
and broil, turning, until blackened all over, about 20 minutes. Transfer chiles
to a plastic bag to let them sweat, and let cool (this makes them easy to
peel).
Peel and discard skins, in a pan fry some onion and when it’s
translucent add ½ cup of water and ½ cup of vinegar cook the chiles in this
liquid for about 5 minutes, drain and cut a slit down the length of each chile,
remove the stems, and seeds. Allow the chiles to cool. Place about 2–3
tbsp. filling inside each chile and spoon walnut sauce over chiles to cover
completely; sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and parsley before serving.
ENJOY!!!
Love, Lola!
