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This patriotic month started with high costs of the agro-foods special for the preparation of typical Mexican dishes such as poblano chili, which is up to 30% more expensive than last year.
A price analysis of the GAgricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA), revealed that this spice used for traditional chiles en nogada increased its cost from 55 pesos in the last week of August. 2023 up to 73 pesos on average.
The effects of the drought and extreme heat experienced in the first months of the year, and the economic shocks that continue to affect inflation, such as the still-close period of Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Middle East continues to keep the cost of seeds, grains and fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables high.
This year, 24 HORAS reported that chiles en nogada, already cooked, cost an average of 200 pesos, while in prestigious kitchens they can be found for up to 500 pesos per dish.
The food consultancy recorded that products used for these dishes during the national holidays, such as onions, rose from 28 pesos last year to 42 pesos per kilo in the last week of August. Sugar rose from 35 pesos per kilo to 47 pesos.
Meanwhile, figures from the Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP) indicated that national production of poblano chili was 480,936 tons in 2023, 15.9% more compared to the 414,656 tons at the end of 2022, figures that are expected to be exceeded this season.
The Ministry of Agriculture explained that Zacatecas is the main producer of poblano chile in the country with more than 177,386 tons; followed by Guanajuato, with 63,250 tons; Sinaloa, with 57,991 tons; Jalisco, with 48,000 tons, and Baja California Sur, with approximately 40,000 tons each.
In the same period, the production of Castilian nuts – a traditional variety used in the preparation of chiles en nogada – totaled 1,654 tons throughout the country, with a value of 66 million 779 thousand pesos.
Puebla and its fields of flavor
A tour of Calpan, Puebla, showed how flavor and tradition on other people’s tables is the lifeblood of rural producers.
“For me, the countryside is my life, it is very beautiful, but sometimes we do not value it, because it is the best part of the countryside, we take what there is, we never lack food every day because everything comes from here,” said José Juan Paz, a walnut producer.
While Jonathan Romero Cordero, who is a fourth generation poblano chile producer, stated that “it is something that I love. When capulin season is here, we make water, when it is plum season, we make sauces, and now that it is chile season, we make chile en nogada snow cone and we sell everything on the main street of San Mateo, on the Chile en Nogada tourist route,” he explained.
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2024-09-07 19:30:22