I’ve lost count of how many years ago I chanced upon Los Poblanos in Norwalk, but since then, I’ve probably eaten there more than any other place in Fairfield County. It specializes in the traditional food of Puebla, Mexico.

Most recently, Juan put cochinita on the menu. Pork slow cooked to complete tenderness in an ineffable blend of spices. It’s served with pickled red onions, salsa, guacamole, and warm tortillas.

How can you order enchiladas when that’s on the menu? Well, sometimes you’re craving enchiladas in green sauce.

or red sauce,

or a quick plate of carnitas tacos.

But what I order most frequently, because Los Poblanos is the only place that makes them so well, are chiles rellenos.  My love of chiles rellenos is documented here.

In the fall, Juan makes the famous chiles en nogata,  poblanos stuffed with fruit, nuts and pork, and draped in walnut sauce, topped with pomegranate seeds. It’s a special dish, and a lot of work. “That’s why we make it only once a year,” Juan told me.

It’s well worth the wait.  In the meantime…