There are several versions about the origin of chiles en nogada. The most popular says that this dish was created by the Augustinian nuns of the convent of Santa Monica in Puebla, to celebrate the Independence of Mexico. Taking advantage of seasonal products such as pomegranate and walnut from Castilla, these nuns prepared a food that carried the national colors: green, white and red.
The most romantic version is described by the famous writer Artemio de Valle-Arizpe. He relates that in the trigarante army there were three soldiers whose girlfriends lived in Puebla. Excited by the Independence and having their lovers back, they decided to create this dish to celebrate it. Each chose an ingredient that represented the color of the army.
The recipe for chiles en nogada, as we know it today, does not appear in written documents until the second half of the 19th century. This suggests to some Mexican cuisine scholars that chiles en nogada arise from various family recipes from the state of Puebla and subsequently converged on a version that shares basic techniques and ingredients.
