SAN DIEGO — El Borrego Restaurant has spent the past two days preparing for a big celebration with its seasonal dish Chiles en Nogada.
“You can see it resembles the colors of the Mexican flag, which is white, green and red,” El Borrego Restaurant Co-Owner Rodnia Attiq, said.
The dish originates from Puebla, Mexico but it's now made all over. For Attiq, it's important to continue traditions for the next generation.
“It's about the traditions, part of who we are here at the restaurant. We enhance the traditions that we have in Mexico like el Dia de los Muertos. In this case, it's going to be the Chile en Nogada for the Independence Day in Mexico so we are very proud of that,” Attiq said.
It's a plate that's been around for generations and evolved into what it is today.
“The myth says it was made for the nuns for Agustin de Iturbide but this dish was originally like 100 years before. It was made with sweets with the raisins and the peaches and all that stuff so it was kind of a desert,” Attiq said.
From a desert to an entrée with several ingredients included.
“It's chile poblano which is from Puebla and then it's stuffed with ground pork, ground beef you know, raisins and peanuts and peaches and pears and we have the sauce which is the walnut sauce,” Attiq said.
Chiles en Nogada is a complex dish, from the peppers, to the filling and the toppings. For El Borrego Restaurant Owner, Rosario Sotelo there's one step in particular.
“Oh, peeling chiles," he laughs. "Because the other things we just mix it, you know, but the chiles has to be very clean and it's a process that takes time,” Sotelo said.
To start off, Rosario and Rodnia prepared about 20 peppers. But the restaurant kept busy as orders continued to come in.
“It's delicious, it's rich. It has a little bit of sweetness from the walnut sauce and the fruit. It's really complex, it's delicious,” El Borrego Restaurant customer Jonathan Mello said.
El Borrego Restaurant will serve Chiles en Nogada for a limited time in honor of the Mexican holiday.
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