Why You Should Eat Mole Poblano On Cinco De Mayo
In the U.S., restaurants, bars, and food or beverage brands such as Topo Chico have sold us on the notion of Cinco de Mayo as "the" Mexican holiday, but southwest of the Rio Grande, it's no such thing. The more-widely-recognized Mexican Independence Day is actually on September 16, as this date marks the anniversary of the start of Mexico's 1810 War of Independence from Spain. Cinco de Mayo is instead more of a local celebration that commemorates the Battle of Puebla, which took place about a half-century later when the French, in turn, tried to establish their presence in the Mexican state from which the battle takes its name.
No matter the history behind it, Cinco de Mayo is as good a time as any to explore all that Mexican cuisine has to offer. This year, however, it's time to expand your repertoire of Cinco de Mayo recipes beyond tacos, burritos, and margaritas. Instead, we suggest a Puebla specialty that doubles as Mexico's national dish: mole poblano.
While Mexico has several different moles, two of the best-known are mole negro and mole poblano. Both are made with chiles, nuts, seeds, spices, and chocolate, but the main difference between them is that mole poblano is less intense in flavor and color (an alternate name for it is mole rojo, or red mole). While it can be complicated and time-consuming to make, it's easy to buy a jar of the stuff, with Doña Maria being a common brand sold in the U.S.
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These Other Pueblan Foods Would Also Be Appropriate
One cannot make a meal on mole alone, it's true, although mole poblano can be used to make chicken mole, served as a sauce for other meats or vegetables, spooned over eggs, or incorporated into dishes such as enchiladas or, yes, tacos and burritos. Still, if you'd like your Cinco de Mayo celebration to be less mole-centric, there are several other Puebla specialties you might want to try.
One such dish is chalupas — here's a recipe for the homemade kind, though Taco Bell has its own version if you prefer something made for you. Another, more colorful regional specialty from Puebla is something you're unlikely to see on a fast food menu. Chiles en nogada is a dish of stuffed, fried peppers, much like chiles rellenos. However, what really makes it stand out is a topping of white walnut sauce with red pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley. The three colors are meant to resemble the Mexican flag, and the dish was said to have been created in honor of Mexico's first emperor on the occasion of his 1821 visit to Puebla.
Even if you can't get hold of or don't feel like making any of these Puebla specialties, there's one you may already have in your pantry: Cholula, the hot sauce named for a 2,500-year-old city in the northwestern part of that state. Here's an idea: Splash Cholula on boeuf bourguignon or soupe a l'oignon and call it a Battle of Puebla reconciliation meal.
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