While Mexico is dressing up in red, white and green for the patriotic holidays, food lovers are slathering for a taste of the season’s emblematic tricolor gourmet treat: chiles en nogada.

While the stuffed pepper may rate as commonplace fare in Mexico’s culinary repertoire, none is quite so complex nor so steeped in history as this seasonal delight. It’s a festive palate-pleaser noted for an exotic blend of flavors brought together in perfect symphony.

Recipes for chiles en nogada are varied, with some listing as many as 40 different ingredients. Common elements shared by all are the main vehicle (a fresh green poblano pepper), its rich picadillo filling, and the topping of a luscious walnut-laced white cream sauce garnished with ruby red pomegranate seeds and bright green parsley sprigs.

The dish is traditionally featured on menus during July, August and September, the peak market season for many key ingredients.

Chefs debate a number of points on preparation methods. Some insist that the chiles be capeados (fried in a fluffy egg batter), others prefer them simply roasted and peeled.  Chopping versus grinding the meat, choosing the blend of filling ingredients and achieving the best balance of salt, sugar and spices vary according to each cook’s taste. Milk, heavy cream, queso fresco, cream cheese or a combination of these may be used as a base for the walnut sauce. Some serve the dish piping hot, others at room temperature.

The greatest variation in recipes is seen in the content of the picadillo, a salty-sweet mincemeat that may concocted with any of the following: pork, beef, garlic, onions, tomatoes, apples, peaches, pears, plantains, raisins, acitrón (crystallized biznaga cactus), almonds, pine nuts, capers, olives, and seasonings such as cinnamon, clove and sherry.

Regardless of a cook’s preferences, the process of preparing each element and putting the dish together is time-consuming, verging on tedious, a factor that no doubt adds to its cachet among gourmands.

This baroque platter originated in Puebla, a city renowned for exquisite cuisine developed in the kitchens of local convents during Mexico’s Colonial Era. The nuns distinguished themselves by dreaming up heavenly recipes synthesizing native and European ingredients and cooking styles.

According to legend, the original recipe for chiles en nogada was devised by Augustinian nuns at the Santa Monica Convent. It was dished out as the centerpiece of a grand banquet honoring Agustin de Iturbide on his saint’s day, August 28, 1821. The general and future emperor was leading his troops through Puebla on route to Mexico City after signing the Treaty of Córdoba that brought an end to the nation’s ten-year struggle for independence.

Iturbide is said to have devoured several helpings of  chiles with considerable relish. He was taken not only by the exquisite flavor, but also the color scheme symbolizing his army’s fighting standard and the Three Guarantees-religion, independence and unity-spelled out in the Plan de Iguala as the founding principles of Mexico as a sovereign nation.

With that historical context, its patriotic colors and unmatched taste, chiles en nogada has become the quintessential main course for a first rate Fiestas Patrias holiday spread.