Patriotic Recipes, Delicious Stories

The patriotic holidays are approaching, a time to savor all those typical dishes of our country. Here are some of the stories of the most famous specialties of the nation.   Some of these stories are true, others are legends, but the truth is that they hide the why and how of some of the best Mexican flavors.   Mole The history of mole dates back to pre-Columbian times. It is said that the Aztecs prepared a very complicated dish called mulli, which means stew or mixture, for their gods and priests. On the other hand, there is a somewhat more amusing and accident-prone story: once, Juan de Palafox, viceroy of New Spain and archbishop of Puebla, visited his subjects in a convent in Puebla and was offered a banquet. The main cook was Fray Pascual, who that day arrived very nervous and started scolding his helpers for supposed disorder in the kitchen. The same friar began to arrange all the ingredients that were scattered around on a tray to store them, and in his hurry and clumsiness, he stumbled right in front of the pot where some turkeys were almost ready. There ended up the chiles, almonds, pieces of chocolate, and many more spices, right over the food intended for the Viceroy. It goes without saying that the dish was a complete success and that Fray Pascual had achieved a historic milestone. Unintentionally. Mole Recipe Ingredients: - 4 kilos of turkey, one piece - 4 liters of water - 4 cloves of garlic - 1/2 onion - 1 tablespoon of salt - 150 milliliters of oil - 220 grams of deseeded and deveined ancho chiles - 90 grams of deseeded and deveined pasilla chiles - 315 grams of deseeded and deveined mulato chiles - 4 chipotle chiles - 3/4 kilo of tomato - 1 chopped onion - 10 cloves of garlic - 150 grams of almonds - 100 grams of peeled peanuts - 8 cloves - 4 black peppercorns - 1 stick of cinnamon (4 cm) - 1/2 teaspoon of anise seed - 90 grams of seedless raisins - 90 grams of unsweetened chocolate - 1 tablespoon of sugar - 2 tablespoons of salt - 1/2 cup of sesame seeds To see the steps to prepare this mole, click here.   Chile en nogada On August 2, 1821, the insurgents won the war of independence in Mexico and headed to the city of Córdoba, Veracruz, to sign the Act of Independence led by their leader Agustín de Iturbide. Upon learning that such a character would pass through his area in Puebla, Bishop Antonio Joaquín Pérez Martínez decided to receive them by preparing a grand banquet. For this very special dinner, 14 different dishes were ordered to various convents of Puebla nuns, requesting the Agustinians of the Santa Mónica Convent to prepare the dish already known as chiles rellenos bathed in walnut sauce. Upon learning about the new flag of the Insurgents, they decided to decorate the dish with parsley and pomegranate seeds, which along with the white of the nogada represented our flag. Traditional Chiles en Nogada Recipe Ingredients: - 250 grams of ground beef - 250 grams of ground pork - 25 grams of walnut halves - 25 grams of raisins - 50 grams of canned peach - 50 grams of golden apple - 1 stick of cinnamon - 3 cloves - 1 pinch of cumin - 5 poblano chiles - 50 grams of sugar - salt - powdered consommé - 1 liter of sour cream - 2 pomegranates - 25 grams of sugar - walnut essence - 25 grams of chopped walnuts - 300 grams of acitrón - 1/2 onion - 3 cloves of garlic - oil Click here to find the procedure to prepare these delicious chiles.   Pozole Pozole as a recipe comes from pre-Hispanic times. It is known that in most cases, beef or pork was used, but there was also another much stranger protein (to put it in some way) that was used to make pozole. Some anthropologists point out that after ritual human sacrifices, the rest of the body was cooked with corn and distributed among all participants in a sort of communion and celebration for the offering made to the gods. There are cooking recipes for human flesh that were collected by Spanish friars during their evangelizing efforts after the conquest. These indicate that human flesh was never eaten roasted and that it was common to add it to pozole. According to the testimony of one of these friars, human flesh “tasted like pork,” which is why, after its consumption was prohibited during the Christianization of the natives, it was replaced by pork. Pozole Recipe Ingredients: - 1 can of canned corn for pozole - 6 guajillo chiles (depending on the desired spiciness) - 1 onion - 1 pinch of oregano - 2 cloves of garlic - 3 chicken breasts - 1 cup of chopped radish - 1 cup of chopped lettuce - 1 cup of chopped onion - 4 tablespoons of oregano - 4 tablespoons of piquín chile - 20 corn tostadas - 8 limes Find the steps to prepare this recipe by clicking here.   However, in Mexico, there is an endless variety of typical dishes, click here and find many of their recipes.   What recipes are you going to prepare to celebrate these patriotic holidays?