The Fix: Puebla with Gustavo Macuitl

Chef Gustavo Macuitl on why the enlightened way to visit Puebla is to leave it. The city of Puebla has long been an icon. It was, for many years, among the richest cities in the colonial Americas. It was the site of the surprise defeat of the French army, in the battle still celebrated by Cinco de Mayo. It is home to chile en nogada—the flag-colored seasonal staple of late summer and early autumn—and mole poblano, the chile-and-chocolate sauce that is what the entire world thinks of when they think of mole. Today it is Mexico’s fourth-largest city and a powerhouse of manufacturing. Like so many places in Mexico, though, the true engine of the city is the countryside all around it. For all the European and Levantine influence in Puebla’s city center, the surrounding state (also called Puebla) is defined by an adaptive but unbroken lineage of indigenous culture and cuisine. That’s why the enlightened way to visit Puebla city is to get into Puebla state, at least some of the time. Visit the volcano towns and the plains below them, tour the markets that open at midnight, eat the chiles that grow nowhere else on earth. In short, you should visit Gustavo Macuitl’s Puebla. The chef and owner of the celebrated Macuitl Molino, Gustavo grew up in San Jerónimo Tecuanipan, a farming town under the volcanoes. His grandmother—who raised him, and whom he calls his mother—was the cook whom the village sent for when there was a wedding or a mayordomía or a saint’s day. He is the fourth generation of his family to work the land, and when he and his business partner Leticia Eugenia Paleta opened a restaurant on the edge of a rural town most Poblanos regard as too far to drive to, it was an expression of wild optimism, and also a sign that the cultural balance of power between Puebla the city and Puebla the state was shifting. What follows is the Puebla he would send you to, much of which is not in the city itself. Continue reading Access this and all our other premium articles by joining our membership program. Plans start at $6.50 per month and include twice-weekly digital features, access to in-person events, and more.