Fundación:

Salsa Criolla

In Peru, salsa is a catchall word that refers to both sauces and relishlike condiments. The most common is salsa criolla, a true relish-like with red onions, spicy peppers, and lime juice. You see it everywhere, alongside everything from the lightest ceviches to sandwiches, grilled meats, and stews. Red onions are almost always the base, along with salt, a good squeeze of lime juice, and traditionally a tiny amount of finely chopped ají limo chiles, but the ingredients are up to the person doing the chopping.

Many of the dishes I make already have plenty of heat, so I usually don’t add chiles. Instead, to brighten up the flavors I prefer tomatoes and cilantro. You can swap out different spicy peppers or completely change the texture of the salsa by chopping the red onions as roughly or finely as you’d like. For a really fine texture, shave the onions a la pluma, or like feathers (see sidebar). The salsa will be more delicate, so I use it for tiraditos and ceviches.

Salsa criolla is simple to make, but it is very important to serve the salsa the right away. Even after just ten minutes, the onions will “cook” in the acid from the citrus and soften into a mushy mess. You can chop the onions, tomatoes, and cilantro an hour before you plan to use them and keep them in the fridge, but don’t mix in the lime juice and the other ingredients until right before you serve the salsa. To make the onions really crispy, dunk them in a bowl of ice water for a few minutes before you mix them with the other ingredients. Because it is used more like a relish, not a cooking sauce or dipping salsa, my salsa criolla is usually pretty salty. Salt the main dish pretty lightly but go heavier on the salt in the salsa than your tongue first thinks is a good idea.

• ½ large red onion
• 2 plum tomatoes, cored and seeded
• About ⅓ medium bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and top two-thirds of the stems
• 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Generous ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Chop the onion and tomatoes into neat, ¼-inch squares, or as large or small as you’d like, and place them in a medium bowl. Roughly chop the cilantro and add it to the bowl with the onions and tomatoes. Add 3 tablespoons of the lime juice, the olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss everything together with your fingers or a spoon. Taste, and add more lime juice and salt to taste. The salsa criolla should be tangy with a noticeable salty finish. Use the salsa right away.

Variación:

Jalapeño Salsa Criolla

The few times I do add chiles to salsa criolla, I actually prefer jalapeños, which is very un-Peruvian of me. They have a stronger green chile flavor that works well with corn-based dishes. I use the spicy salsa on Tamalitos Verdes (page 64) or on open-faced sandwiches.

Chop the red onion into small, neat, ¼-inch squares. Omit the tomatoes. Roughly chop the cilantro and add it, as well as 3 stemmed, seeded, and chopped jalapeños (scrape the peppers well to remove the spicy internal membranes), or to taste. Decrease the lime juice to 2 tablespoons, and add 2 tablespoons of Banyuls vinegar or good-quality red wine vinegar. Makes about 1¼ cups.