Rick Bayless: Salsa King
Americans tend to think of salsa only as that fresh tomato relish we spoon on chips, but the Mexican salsa repertoire is extensive. Mexican salsas may be chunky, like the fresh salsa we know, but they are more often smooth, thin enough to drizzle, rich with roasted chile flavors, tangy with lime or vinegar, and unabashedly hot.
One thing traditional salsas rarely are: fruity. The idea of fruit salsa, although it's infiltrating Mexico, originated in the U.S., says Rick Bayless, author of Authentic Mexican (William Morrow, 1987) and chef-proprietor of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago. Fruit salsas evolved from the ubiquitous fresh chopped-tomato salsa, with fruits like mango, papaya, and pineapple replacing some or all of the tomato. As a condiment for seafood—especially scallops and shrimp—a creative fruit salsa can be appealing, says Bayless, but chefs should ground themselves in the traditions first.
"Delve into some of those traditional salsas and get to know them in the traditional way, then start thinking what you can do with them," advises Bayless.
Three basics:
- Salsa mexicana, a relish of chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, chiles, and lime, is not cooked. Spoon on tacos or on bean soups.
- Salsa verde is made with tomatillos. The tomatillos may be boiled, then puréed with onion, cilantro, and chiles to make salsa verde cruda ("raw" salsa, even though the tomatillos are cooked). It's a common table condiment. Because it's high in acid, it's good with fish. Cooked salsa verde, made by simmering the purée in lard or oil and thinning with chicken broth, can be a sauce for enchiladas, chicken, or pork.
- Salsa roja, red chile sauce, is made by toasting dried red chiles, garlic, and fresh tomato on a dry griddle, then blending them and straining the purée. Vary the flavor by varying the chiles and adding herbs such as cilantro, mint, hoja santa, or epazote. The roasting process gives these salsas their robust flavor and makes them suitable for darker meats. Use with beef, lamb, or pork.
And a few salsa uses:
- On sandwiches: Replace high-fat condiments like mayonnaise with salsa, as Mexicans do in their classic tortas. A typical torta is made with a French roll with some of the crumb removed, then filled with bean purée, cheeses, meats, avocado, and salsa. Bayless recommends a salsa verde for its bright flavors. A vegetarian torta with black beans, shredded greens, avocado, and salsa would make a healthful quick lunch.
- On soups: In place of a sour cream or crème fraîche topping, put a spoonful of salsa on top of soup. A butternut squash purée, chickpea purée, or corn purée would welcome that flavor boost.
- On salads: "I've never seen it done in Mexico, but we'll take tomatillo salsa and add oil to it, and it's a wonderful dressing for a salad," says Bayless. Sometimes he adds a touch of sour cream to smooth out the dressing and help it cling to salad greens.
"I think most people realize that salsa gives you a really fresh, high-fiber, low-fat alternative to other condiments," says Bayless. "There are some wonderful flavors to be had when you get into these different salsas with different dried chiles. I recommend that, before you explore fruit salsas, you begin to understand the traditional salsas in the Mexican kitchen. A lot of chefs don't do their homework first, and that limits their ability to do a nice job with balancing flavors."