What Pipián means
Pipián is a Mexican main dish name of Spanish origin meaning "seed sauce". It comes from Spanish pipián (possibly from pepita, seed). It is pronounced pee-pee-AHN, and it is most associated with central Mexico.
Etymology uncertain: the link to pepita, a squash seed, matches the sauce but is not established. Often described as a green mole, and mōlli would have covered it perfectly well.
About this origin. The etymology is uncertain, disputed, or the name is a modern brand rather than an old word. The reading above is the best-supported one; food writing repeats stories that the dictionaries do not confirm.
This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: The plated dishes, most named for a cooking method or a place. Cochinita pibil is pork cooked in a píib, the Maya earth oven. Barbacoa gave English the word barbecue. Chiles en nogada is named for the walnut sauce that covers it.
