The Chiles en Nogada Origin Story Historians No Longer Accept

Historians are no longer accepting the story that nuns invented the dish, chiles en nogada, for the emperor Agustín de Iturbide in 1821. Convent Santa Mónica claims this to be a legend. The tale that is widely repeated presents a neatly packaged narrative of Iturbide's visit, Augustinian nuns creating a dish adorned with the colors of the new Mexican flag, and a symbol of national unity.

This narrative is popular and generates significant revenue for Puebla's culinary industry. However, recent scholars have come to doubt the veracity of this account. The earliest documented version of the dish dates back to 1714, nearly a century before Iturbide's visit. Subsequent printed recipes appeared in 1831, using almonds instead of walnuts and without any mention of Iturbide.

The flag colors are absent in these early works. Convent recipe collections do include stuffed chiles and nut sauces, but their compositions differ from the modern dish. An academic conference is being held to examine the origins of chiles en nogada, which is being framed as the result of layered culinary traditions from indigenous, Spanish, and African techniques, rather than being the invention of a single event in 1821.

The dish's seasonality is not in question; the ingredients that dictate the harvest window are clear. This ongoing debate about the dish's origins highlights the importance of considering the evidence behind culinary traditions, rather than accepting a story simply because it has been repeated for centuries.