Salsa!

There are many things I love about Mexico and Mexican culture.  The colonial history, fantastic beaches, great people and culture and of course...the food!  One thing I really admire about Mexican cooking is their total independence from the spice rack, with the exception, of course, of salt.  The flavor, intensity and complexity of their food is summoned by vegetables and cooking preparations.  Think charred poblano chiles or a combination of onions, garlic, tomatoes and jalapenos.  Really, what else do you need?  Fresh food and fire.  It's simple and complex all at the same time.

On one of our last trips to Mexico, my brother-in-law and I went to a cooking class hosted by a lovely and quirky American who has lived in Mexico for over 35 years, and has obviously completely embraced the culture, the people and the food.  She was a great source of information and historic background to many different areas of Mexico and how their food evolved.  So really, a cooking, cultural and historic lesson rolled up into a four hour information and eating session - what's not to like?

While we prepared and consumed many "comfort foods" from different regions of Mexico, the most insightful exposure during this lesson was about the simple salsa.  I have many recipes for multiple types of salsa, but her ease in taking the typical red salsa and transforming it into several other specific salsas by the simple add on of an extra ingredient or preparation, well... made it all make sense.

So, I think it's safe to say that the majority of the population in Canada is well versed with Pico de gallo salsa.  You know it as a great combination of chopped raw vegetables with a dose of cilantro.  Fresh with flavor, but quite mild.  This raw salsa keeps in the fridge for about 2 days at best.  In other words, prepare and consume.  If you are the Mexican all-inclusive traveller, THIS is what is served as salsa.  But there is so much more.  Salsa means simply, "sauce" in Mexico and with that, typically the consistency resembles a textured sauce. 

The most basic and well known is probably Salsa Roja de Molcajete.  (Red sauce in a Molcajete) The molcajete is an ancient Mexican kitchen tool reminiscent of a mortar, though carved out of lava rock, which when the salsa is crushed and prepared in this bowl, picks up the flavours of the specific rock.
This salsa is fantastic with almost anything and is the typical "grilled" salsa. Grilled, because they simply add the ingredients directly to the fire of a gas oven or on a round pan, called comal, until the vegetables are charred.

From there, you can take this salsa and simply fry it - add it to a pan with a bit of oil and cook it.  This deepens the flavour as well as the color and presto, chango, you now have Salsa Ranchero.  This is a common salsa served with the popular huevos ranchero (ranch styled egg breakfast).  Then, why not add some dried chili to this concoction and you have Diabla Sauce.  Also great on many things, including grilled fish.  The final step we learned was adding some tequila to the Diabla sauce to make it a "drunken salsa"!

So I'd like to share with you the recipe I learned from Donna for her Salsa Roja de Molcajete.  Thanks Donna - I'll be back!

Salsa Roja de Molcajete

4 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 small white onion
2 serrano chiles
1 T. chopped cilantro
Sea salt to taste

Roast tomatoes, onion and chiles on a hot comal or heavy skillet, adding garlic last.  Be careful not to blacken the garlic as it will become bitter!

Crush tomatoes and place in a molcajete or a blender.  Rough chop the onions and add to tomatoes, with the garlic and chiles.  Either blend in the blender until it becomes a sauce with texture OR grind in the molcajete until it becomes a rustic paste.  Add sea salt and taste.  Stir in the cilantro last.