[rhines81]

It is well known that the Holy Trinity for Cajun cooking is the onion, celery and bell pepper … although I hate onion and don’t put it in anything I make.

Anyhow … with that out of the way --- the Holy Trinity for Mexican cooking is a bit more confusing and I really do not think it exists. Several internet sites refer to it as the [Ancho, Pasilla and Guajillo] – others sites say it is the [Mulato, Poblano and Pasilla] or the [Mulato, Pasilla and Guajillo].

The Mulato is a variant of the Poblano (Ancho) with perhaps just a slightly more earthy taste and the Ancho listed is just a dried Poblano. The Pasilla and the Poblano are also so very close in heat and flavor that it is hard to tell them apart once mixed in a dish. The Pasilla is a great substitute for the Poblano in recipes (slightly hotter). Even to confuse matters more I have seen the Trinity listed with Chile Chilaca as one of the peppers, so let’s duly note that the Pasilla is the name for the Chilaca pepper when it is dried out. While we are at it, the Guajillo is actually the dried version of a Mirasol pepper. Another popular Mexican pepper is the Pulla (Puya) pepper which is a great substitute for the Guajillo in a recipe (slightly hotter). Some sights also suggest that a good substitution for the Guajillo is either the Pasilla or the Poblano pepper, so you see … they are not a Trinity at all, but rather interchangeable actually.

I have never been able to find any sort of wide use of all three peppers used in any one Mexican dish except for some odd one-off sauce (mole) recipe. There are numerous dishes that use the Poblano (Ancho or Mulato), Pasilla and Guajillo peppers but they are either paired (two at a time) or used alone in a recipe.

I call bull on whoever states there is a “Holy Trinity” of peppers for Mexican food, it just doesn’t exist.