When you go to a Mexican restaurant in Nebraska, the menu probably includes popular Mexican foods like tacos, burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas. These dishes are just the tip of the iceberg. What I didn't realize before I moved to Mexico was that while these foods are popular in the United States, they can't be found everywhere in Mexico. I've been here for almost five months and I have only seen burritos on a menu once! Many dishes we think of as Mexican are actually Tex-Mex. Getting to try local dishes that I had never heard of before has been a real treat for me.
Last September, I had the opportunity to eat chile en nogada, a seasonal dish that is only available from late July to mid-September. It is a traditional dish, plato típico in Spanish, in this part of the country, and other English Teaching Assistants who had been to Puebla before urged me to try it before the season ended. Chile a Spanish word for chili and nogada comes from the Spanish word nogal, which refers to the walnuts that the sauce is made of.
