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Thoughts on Cinco - The hunt for a holiday classic

Two restaurants where one can order a dish that helped to unite the political consciousness of Mexico.

Okay, we admit that Cinco de Mayo weighs heavily on our minds, especially since we remember the hangovers that follow the annual celebration. Traditional Sonoran dishes will rule the day, as the holiday provides an excuse to pig out.

This year we decided to launch a noble search for an appropriate dish to mark Cinco de Mayo, instead of hoisting and slamming numerous shots of premium tequila. Or maybe to accompany said liquor. At any rate, the quest ended at two of our favorite places to splurge.

Barrio Café in Phoenix and La Hacienda in Scottsdale are two restaurants where one can order a dish that some food historians say helped to unite the political consciousness of Mexico. Luckily, it was invented by the genius cooks in Puebla, whose adventurous leanings led to the creation of the divine mole.

We're speaking, of course, of chiles en nogada: green poblano chiles stuffed with a mixture of seasoned ground meat, topped with a creamy white sauce made with walnuts and sprinkled with bright red pomegranate seeds.

This is one of those dishes to die for, when made well. For home cooks, that usually means spending more time in the kitchen than it takes to Shake 'n' Bake. In the end, will one's family truly appreciate the time and effort?

Touted as North America's only AAA three-diamond Mexican restaurant, La Hacienda at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess offers Chile Ancho en Nogada ($11) on its appetizer menu. Here the dish involves wood-fire roasted chicken and dried fruits stuffed in a tender envelope of roasted ancho chile and topped with pomegranate sauce.

Barrio Café's Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza has Chiles en Nogada ($19.50) on her entrees menu, stuffing roasted poblanos with chicken, onions and garlic, adding chopped apples, pears and apricots along with ground pecans and finishing it off with an almond sauce and pomegranate seeds.

That's right, almond sauce. Well, it's close enough to the classic dish, and since pomegranates have become the darling of the healthy eating trend, we say go ahead and order. It's got to be better for you than all that tequila.

Barrio Café $$-$$$
2814 N. 16th St., Phoenix
(602) 636-0240

La Hacienda $$-$$$
Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
7575 E. Princess Drive, Scottsdale
(480) 585-4848