A Festival of "Chiles"

 Last week when I was in the "Centro Histórico", the streets were lined with banners advertising the 4th annual "Festival de Chile en Nogada".

From August 16th until September 30th, eighty restaurants in the "Centro Histórico" are competing for the title of best "chile en nogada".  I was planning to fix something to eat at the apartment after I returned from downtown.  However, seeing all the banners for "chile en nogada" made me hungry to try out another restaurant.  If you have been reading the blog, you know that I have already had this delicacy, generally reserved for the months of August and September, three times this season at three different restaurants.   The winner so far has been Restaurante Testal.

As I walked around the area, I saw several restaurants advertising their "chiles".  I definitely would NOT be trying the "chiles" at VIPS, a chain of eateries comparable to Denny's in the U.S.

VIPS actually used to be a pretty decent place for breakfast, but the quality seemed to go downhill after the pandemic.  Regardless, it would not be the place to try a gourmet dish like "chiles en nogada"

I managed to download the QR code on the posters to my cell phone and see the list of participating restaurants.  One of them was Mayordomo, a restaurant operated by a chocolate company from Oaxaca.  Their Oaxacan food is quite good, and even though "chiles en nogada" is from Puebla, not Oaxaca, I thought that I would give them a try.  I headed south down Isabel la Católica Street away from the main touristic area of the "Centro Histórico".

The neighborhood becomes more noisy, chaotic and gritty as you continue south.  Before I ever reached Mayordomo, I passed a restaurant that I had never noticed before.  It is called Casa Manzano, and the sign at the entrance advertised "chile en nogada".

I peeked inside and the restaurant seemed uncharacteristically elegant for this stretch of the street.  I decided to go inside.

The restaurant is in the courtyard of an old house that I would judge to be nearly 200 years old.  It was a tranquil oasis from the noise of the street outside.

I started with corn soup.  It was served cold and had a very distinctive flavor.  I couldn't put my finger on the flavors, but since there was a sprig of dill in the bowl, I think that was one of the seasonings.  A very good start to the meal.

Then came the "chile en nogada".  The presentation was lovely.  In addition to the garnish of pomegranate seeds, there were also chopped walnuts sprinkled along the side... a touch that I had not seen before.

The "nogada", the cream walnut sauce, was extremely rich.  However, the poblano pepper was rather hard, and the filling of meat, fruit and nuts seemed to be lacking something.  I guess I have become a "chile en nogada" snob.  If I had never tasted this dish before, I would have probably been ecstatic about the "chile" served here.  It was good, but... Testal remains the winner in my book.