> Which food is considered a national dish of Mexico?And the answer: Mole Poblano. A plate of chicken with mole poblano, and rice on the sideAn ancient dish nativeto the Mexican state of Puebla, mole poblano is a sauce and marinade that's mostoften served with turkey. It contains nuts, chili pepper, and spices, but alsochocolate, which counteracts the heat from the chili pepper.The origins of mole poblano date back to the sophisticated, thousand-year-oldPersian cuisine which was adopted by Moslems in Baghdad and went on to spread toother Moslem cities. As Spain gained territory in America during the 16thcentury, their cuisine traveled with them, including that which had originallybeen adopted from the Moslems. Among them was what would become mole poblano,created through the replacement of some of the usual Spanish ingredients withthose native to America. In addition to its possible Persian origins, there are a number of myths andlegends surrounding the creation of mole poblano. One legend claims that in the16th century, the archbishop made an unannounced visit to the Convent of SantaRosa in Puebla de los Angeles. Panicking because they had nothing to serve him,the nuns prayed for an angel to inspire them for a dish. They mixed varioustypes of chiles with spices, day-old bread, nuts, chocolate, and around 20 otheringredients. After hours of boiling, this concoction reduced to the rich molesauce we are familiar with today. The nuns killed an old turkey, which was theonly meat they had, and poured the sauce over it. Ignorant of the circumstancessurrounding the dish's creation, the archbishop fawned over the plate in frontof him.Want to try mole poblano for yourself? Check out this recipe[https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/10/mole-poblano-recipe-how-to-make-mole.html] to make this signature Mexican dish at home.