The First of the Season

If you have read this blog over the years, you know that our favorite restaurant in Mexico City has long been "Angelopolitano".  Unfortunately, in our last several visits there it seems that the quality of the food has gone downhill.  Even their signature dish "chile en nogada" is not up to their usual standards.

"Chile en nogada", a poblano pepper stuffed with meat, fruits and nuts, covered with a cream walnut sauce, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, is the national dish of Mexico.  It is traditionally served for Mexican Independence Day (September 16th) because the colors of the dish... green pepper, white sauce and red pomegranate seeds... are the colors of the Mexican flag.  It is also during the summer and autumn months that the walnuts and pomegranates are in season.  "Angelopolitano" is one of the few restaurants that serve "chile en nogada" all year long.  Most places have it on the menu for a limited time, usually in August and September.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about a restaurant called "Testal" that we discovered.  It serves traditional Mexican cuisine, and it was so good that we thought that we had found a new favorite to replace "Angelopolitano".  When we were there, the waiter told us that they would soon begin serving "chiles en nogada".  So, last Saturday, after visiting the "Touristic Festival", we decided to go back to "Testal" to see if they had begun serving the "chiles".

Sure enough, outside the restaurant there was a sign announcing that the season had arrived.

The menu had a special insert with their offerings for the season.  In addition to the traditional "chile en nogada", they have a vegetarian "chile" with mushrooms instead of meat.  They also have an enchilada that is filled with the "chile en nogada" stuffing.

As usual, we began our meal with soup.  Alejandro had bean soup which was very good.

I had the soup that Alejandro had ordered the last time that we were here.  Half the bowl was filled with cream of corn, and the other half with a cream of "huitlacoche" (corn smut, a delicacy similar to truffles).  It was superb.

By the way, the crusty rolls known as "bolillos" were also excellent, just as good as the ones they serve at "El Cardenal".

Of course, for our main dish we both ordered the "chile en nogada", our first of the season.

The "chiles" were scrumptious, every bit as delicious as they used to be at "Angelopolitano".

Along with our main course, we received little pieces of paper saying that our "chiles" were numbers 386 and 387 that they had served this season.

We also received a paper giving the history of this dish.  The walnut sauce dates back to medieval Europe.  The stuffing of chopped meat with fruits also has its origins in the Middle Ages.  The poblano pepper has been cultivated in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times.

When Mexico won its independence from Spain, Agustín de Iturbide, who had led the Mexican forces to victory against the Spanish, briefly ruled the country as emperor.  Using the walnuts and pomegranates which were in season, on August 28th (the Feast Day of St. Augustine) of 1822, the nuns of a convent in Puebla, created this dish to honor the Emperor's Saint's Day.  Iturbide was soon deposed, but this dish with its patriotic colors remained the national dish. Most people north of the border think that Mexican cooking is nothing more than tacos, enchiladas and various Tex-Mex dishes, but in fact, there is nothing more Mexican than "chiles en nogada".

We ended our dinner with a delicious, although non-Mexican, dessert.  We shared a large slice of tiramisu between layers of crepes.

Move over "Angelopolitano".  This wonderful dinner clinched it.  Our new favorite is definitely "Testal".  The waiter told us that they will serve "chile en nogada" until October, so we have time to return... and return again... for more of this most Mexican of dishes!