San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Get your grito going with chile en nogada
Chile relleno is a classic in the Mexican culinary canon. And one of the most distinctive versions of that dish is the chile en nogada, a hallmark of Puebla, Mexico, that’s deeply tied to Mexican Independence Day.
It’s said this iconic picadillostuffed chile topped with a creamy walnut sauce was first served to future Mexico Emperor Agustín de Iturbide after he signed the Treaty of Córdoba, which granted Mexico freedom from Spain, in 1821. Now, while Mexican Independence Day was Thursday, this dish is great any time of year.
My favorite version in San Antonio can be found at the venerable Liberty Bar in Southtown. The convent-turned-restaurant is probably best known for its pizzas, pastas, and housebaked breads and desserts, but the remarkable Chile Relleno en Nogada ($16) remains the best item on its menu in my book. It’s a fairly traditional take on the dish with a few upscale touches.
Beyond the perfectly roasted and peeled poblano, what really makes this chile relleno stand out is the wildly flavorful picadillo stuffed inside the pepper. It’s made with grass-fed and cagefree ground beef punctuated with oodles of onion, garlic, almonds and potato that get a sugary boost from black currants instead of the raisins typically found in a sweet-and-savory picadillo.
That near-bursting pepper parcel is then drenched in an ivory-hued creamy walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. The green chile, white sauce and red pomegranate seeds (which come into season around Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16) mirror the colors of the Mexican flag. Liberty Bar’s version is an elegant, luxurious plate that both honors the dish’s history and feels like a treat.
Liberty Bar isn’t the only game in town for chiles en nogada, of course. You can find similarly reverential versions of the dish at Cuishe Cocina Mexicana in Stone Oak, Paloma Blanca Mexican Cuisine in Alamo Heights, SoLuna on Broadway and others, particularly this time of year.