Salsa

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce. It is commonly associated with tomato-based or chile-based sauces typical of Tex-Mex, Southwestern (U.S.), Mexican, and South American cuisines.

  • Salsa roja, or red sauce, is used as a condiment in Mexican and Southwestern (U.S.) cuisines; usually includes cooked tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro.
  • Pico de gallo (“rooster’s beak”), also known as salsa fresca (“fresh sauce”), salsa picada (“chopped sauce”), or salsa mexicana (“Mexican sauce”), is made with raw tomatoes, lime juice, chili peppers, onions, cilantro leaves, and other coarsely chopped raw ingredients.
  • Salsa verde,  or green sauce, in Mexican versions, is made with tomatillos, usually cooked. The Italian version is made with herbs.
  • Guacamole is thicker than a sauce and generally used as a dip; it refers to any sauce where the main ingredient is avocado.
  • Mole is a Mexican sauce made from chili peppers mixed with spices, unsweetened chocolate, almonds, and other ingredients.
  • Mango and Habanero salsa is a spicy-sweet sauce made from mangoes and habanero peppers. Habanero peppers are very spicy with a flavor that pair well with mango and other fruit. Mango and habanero salsa is often served with grilled chicken or grilled fish. Pineapple may be used as an alternative to mango.
  • Chimichurri is a spicy vinegar-parsley sauce that is the salsa (and leading condiment) in Argentina and Uruguay, served with grilled meat. It is made of chopped fresh parsley and onion, seasoned with garlic, oregano, salt, cayenne and black pepper and bound with oil and vinegar.
  • Mojo is a type of salsa common in Cuba and the Caribbean. Unlike the tomato-based salsas, mojo typically consists of olive oil, garlic, and citrus juice, and is used both to marinate meats and as a dipping sauce.
  • Peri-peri sauce is the national condiment of Peru. Peri-peri sauce is made in medium to hot levels of spiciness—the more chile, or the hotter variety of chile used, the hotter the sauce. Original peri-peri uses the African bird’s eye chile (the African word for the chile is peri-peri). Milder sauces may use only cayenne and serrano chiles. To a base of vinegar and oil, garlic and lemon juice are added, plus other seasonings, which often include paprika or tomato paste for flavor and color, onions and herb. It is also used as a cooking sauce.