Salsa Reconsidered
Author:
photograph by Maura McEvoy These days, salsa seems to be served with almost everything, from broiled chicken to boiled oatmeal. And what salsa it is—kiwi salsa, cactus salsa, strawberry-starfruit-sun-dried-caper salsa. We’ve become so salsa-fied (salsa now outsells ketchup!) that we’ve all but forgotten what the real thing is. Salsa wasn’t always (or only) a raw chunky, saladlike side dish—and it was never an excuse for flights of fusion fancy. It’s what its name implies: a pungent
sauce, used to intensify the flavor and experience of a dish. It might be raw and puréed, like our salsa verde (see Salsa Verde recipe); or partially cooked and finely chopped, like salsa roja (see Salsa Roja recipe); and sometimes it’s cooked and partially puréed, like salsa negra (see Salsa Negra recipe), which heightens the flavor and texture of Veracruz-style empanadas (see Empanadas Veracruzanas recipe).
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