When the chef Diana Dávila suggested we make chiles rellenos together, I have to confess my heart sank a little.

As the chef of the Mi Tocaya Antojería, one of Chicago’s most thrilling restaurants, she is known for her lively, often challenging take on regional Mexican cuisine. She smears soft chunks of tongue with peanut butter, garnishes guacamole with a black dusting of chile ash, piles her cactus salad with burrata and crunchy chicharrón. Chiles rellenos just didn’t seem to have the same sort of creative flair. With tens of thousands of recipes already in existence for the dish, did we really need another subtle variation?

This was no subtle variation , she assured me.