The Super Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas That May Have Been Named After Swiss Cuisine

Picture corn tortillas stuffed with delicious, savory chicken. A creamy salsa verde made of sour cream, tomatillos, serrano and poblano peppers, garlic, cumin, and cilantro is ladled over them. Then a generous portion of Manchego, Oaxaca, or mozzarella cheese is melted over the top. That's enchiladas suizas or, in English, Swiss enchiladas. But how does a traditional Mexican dish end up named after Switzerland? The answer is more mysterious than you might think.

There are competing theories about the origins of enchiladas suizas. In one version of the tale, the enchiladas were developed by the chef at Sanborns Cafe in Mexico City in 1950. The "Swiss" part of the name came from the meal's abundance of dairy, reflecting Swiss cuisine's reputation for using dairy products. Ironically, Swiss cheese isn't among the ingredients. The rest may seem reasonable enough, but is it true?

Sanborns is a massive company in Mexico, not just a restaurant. It has department stores, pharmacies, and more. But the chef credited with making the enchiladas was Swiss-born. Mexico welcomed many Swiss immigrants who also influenced the dairy industry in the country. The first arrived in the mid-1840s, and there is a strong Swiss community in Mexico even today. A Swiss chef developing a recipe at a major retailer, merging the cuisines of Switzerland and Mexico, would have had a strong chance of getting the idea to catch on with local diners. The place was already well known, which would have helped the dish gain popularity.

In 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle published a recipe for Swiss enchiladas, which included a story. The writer had experienced them for the first time on her honeymoon in Mexico in 1968, prepared by a private chef. After tracking the recipe down 37 years later, she believed that the meal was created by Swiss immigrants in Mexico, rather than by a specific chef at one restaurant. That tale is plausible. Perhaps the Sanborns chef had adapted a local dish. It's also possible it was the other way around. Mexican crema is the secret to unmatched flavor and texture in mashed potatoes and many other dishes, so it's entirely likely that its signature creaminess came from years of traditional dairy knowledge.

Another theory suggests the enchiladas came from Café Imperial. In this version, the owner had once been the butler of Maximilian of Habsburg, otherwise known as Emperador Maximiliano of Mexico. He had been appointed by Napoleon III to run the country. After Maximilian was deposed and executed, the butler took recipes from the palace and opened a restaurant. The Swiss enchiladas were developed as a fusion of traditional Mexican and European elements based on these recipes.

One final version of the tale is that the name comes from the aesthetics alone. Covered in green sauce and white cheese, the enchiladas resemble the Swiss Alps. It's a much less exciting story than the others, but it is also well known. Whatever the real story is, it's a delicious dish well worth trying. We have our own special method for creamier enchiladas that you can try, so you can compare it and decide which you like best.