Charred Tomato Salsa (Salsa Roja)
Cooked Green Salsa (Salsa Verde)
Fresh Tomatillo and Chipotle Salsa
Chunky Poblano and Tomato Salsa
Traditional Tomato Pico de Gallo
Pickled Jalapeños and Carrots (Jalapeños y Zanahorias en Escabeche)
Yucatán-Style Pickled Red Onions (Cebollas Encurtidas a la Yucateca)
It was a salsa that saved the first meal I cooked for my husband. I’d followed step-by-step instructions from my sister Alisa for a menu I presumably couldn’t mess up: grilled meat, rice, beans, and a salsa verde. Well, I messed up all but the salsa since it is practically impossible to ruin, and Daniel proceeded to use it to drown the entire disaster.
Daniel, like any Mexican, is wild about salsas. They flow through our veins. We’ve even managed to turn the word salsa into a verb, salsear, meaning “to soak, drench, drizzle, bathe, or pour,” or essentially, to add salsa in any possible way to whatever you are about to eat.
There is a world of salsas that people outside of Mexico have yet to taste and understand. Workhorses in the kitchen, salsas are simple to make and come charred, fried, pureed, mashed, chopped, or raw, and with endless variations. Their common thread is the chile, since all have at least one kind, be it fresh or dried, yet they are not all spicy. Homemade salsas are also so easy, economical, and fresh tasting that after you make one or two, you will wonder why you ever bothered with jarred ones.
Take a peek in the refrigerator of any Mexican and you will find at least one of the two basic salsas: green tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) and a red tomato salsa (salsa roja). Like two arm-wrestling prizefighters battling for supremacy, green and red salsas are in an endless competition for most-favored status. Neither has managed to win, and there are even dishes that demand both, such as Divorced Eggs, where half are served with green and half with red because, really, who can make up their mind?
In this chapter, I give you the salsas you will find most often in my refrigerator: my classic charred red and two greens—one cooked and one raw. But I also want to introduce you to several other salsas that are likely to grow on you: the raw and chunky pico de gallo salsas—pico refers to a coarsely chopped uncooked salsa—with a Traditional Tomato Pico, a fresh Mango Pico, and an unusual Crunchy Radish Pico. Then there are the exotic pickles that serve as salsas too, like Pickled Jalapeños and Carrots, Yucatán-Style Pickled Red Onions, and Pickled Ancho Chile Salsa, all of which keep for months in the refrigerator. And, of course, no salsa chapter is complete without a guacamole. I give you my preferred version, which can be dressed up or down.
Salsas are accommodating and versatile. They can go on top, on the side, below, in between, or all over just about any dish. They can be the foundation that sets the tone of a dish, or they can be that last stroke of genius that turns it from delicious to sublime.