Andrews - Salsas!

Glenn Andrews

What is salsa, anyway?

To begin with, its the Spanish (and also the Italian) word for sauce. But sauce is pretty vague, covering everything from hollandaise to spaghetti, and usually implying something thats served warm and is quite liquid. What weve come to think of as salsa, however, is commonly served cold, and its brimful of ingredients, with very little liquid. Its often fairly spicy, but you can control the amount of heat to suit yourself.

In the beginning, all salsas were based on classic Mexican recipes red- or green-tomato-based hot and spicy condiments. But then chefs, food writers, and restaurateurs began to have fun with the concept. Suddenly menus featured Thai or Indian salsas. Fruit salsas began turning up, as well as salsas made from such diverse ingredients as roasted corn and even macadamia nuts. The current thinking on salsas seems to be that theyre a condiment useful not only for chips but also for topping many different kinds of dishes, adding color, taste, and fun and that they can be made with just about anything.

Whatever salsa is, we love it. In the past year or two, grocery store sales of salsa have beaten out those of ketchup, the all-American condiment! Many of us especially enjoy the fact that most salsas are fat- and cholesterol-free, and very few contain any added salt. Theyre health food with verve and pizzazz!

When you wander through the Mexican-food section of your local grocery store, or even the snack-food aisle, youll see a vast array of bottled, professionally processed salsas. And they can be very good but they really cant hold a candle to the ones you make yourself.

Many, if not most, homemade salsa recipes center on fresh chile peppers. Before we begin, then, heres a brief look at the sorts of fresh chile peppers youre most apt to run across, arranged roughly from mild to scorching. Canned peeled green chiles are also an excellent product, as are canned jalapeos and sliced, pickled jalapeos. All three can be found in most supermarkets. Canned chipotle peppers (smoked jalapeos) are harder to find, but well worth a search. Theyre usually spelled chilpotles on the can labels. These are packed in adobo, a smoky, spicy sauce thats worth the price of the cans all by itself.

Anaheim (Capsicumannuum var. annuum Anaheim). Sometimes known as the New Mexico chile or the Californian chile, this is the one of the mildest in the chile family its not terribly hot and has a somewhat sweet flavor, similar to that of a bell pepper. The Anaheim matures from bright green to red, and usually grows to about 7 inches long and 2 inches wide.

Poblano (Capsicumannuum Poblano). This dark green or red chile is also relatively mild, although a bit hotter than the Anaheim. It has a triangular shape and ranges from 2 to 6 inches long. When the poblano is dried, it becomes known as the ancho.

Jalapeo (Capsicumannuum var. annuum Jalapeo). The jalapeo is probably the best known of all hot peppers, and its available almost everywhere. Some are a lot hotter than others you cant tell by looking. Jalapeos are thick fleshed, and grow to about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Green jalapeos will ripen to shades of yellow or red. When a jalapeo is smoked, it becomes a chipotle, which many people think the tastiest of all chiles. (To substitute for a chipotle in a recipe, use a jalapeo and a few drops of liquid smoke.)

Serrano (Capsicumannuum var. annuum Serrano). Serranos are short (about 2 inches long), fairly thin, smooth skinned, and quite hot. Theyre usually used green, although theyre sometimes available in red.

Tabasco(Capsicum frutescens). Tabascos are shorter, thinner, and hotter than serranos. They ripen from yellow to red (theyre especially tasty when yellow) and grow to about 1 inch in length.

Bird or Thai pepper (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum ). These peppers are tiny (about 1 inches in length) and very hot. They ripen from green to red and have an elongated, pointed shape. Theyre often used in Caribbean, West Indian, and Asian cuisine.

Habaero(Capsicum chinense). Searingly hot! These small peppers (about 2 inches in length) are shaped like Chinese lanterns. Theyre available in light green, orange, red, or deep purple. True, experienced chile fanciers talk about the fruity flavor others just scream. Be sure to wear protective gloves when handling.