Chiles en Nogada Festival

Don Emiliano Restaurant’s Executive Chef Margarita Carrillo de Salinas presents the Chile en Nogada Festival 2006 to run September 9 to 17 in conjunction with Mexican Independence celebrations. Chef Carrillo de Salinas presented three versions of Mexico’s national dish at the recent Slow Food Taste Laboratory 02 on August 16. Chef C. de Salinas is president of the recently-formed Baja California Peninsula chapter of Slow Food, a movement founded in 1986 in Barolo, Italy as a protest against fast food, now with over 83,000 members worldwide.

An unusual combination of roasted and stuffed mild chile poblano smothered in fresh walnut sauce and garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds -- the green chile, white sauce and red pomegranate seeds symbolize the three colors of the Mexican flag. A seasonal delicacy, Chiles en Nogada makes its debut each late July through September during walnut and pomegranate season. The dish was created in 1821, the year of Mexico’s independence from Spain, by Augustine nuns of Puebla’s Santa Monica Convent to mark the entrance of Agustín de Iturbide into Puebla. (The conservative revolutionary Iturbide would become the First Constitutional Emperor of Mexico in 1822, abdicate in 1823, and be executed in 1824.)

If you have not experienced fresh Chiles en Nogada, don’t miss the Chiles en Nogada festival this September 9 to 17 at Don Emiliano  -- tel. (624) 142-0266 -- where two versions, “Antiguo” and “Chile en Nogada MCS” will top a special menu to coincide with the colorful and exuberant Independence Day celebrations in historic San Jose del Cabo.—Sabrina Lear