Cooking with Jawsua: Restaurant Style Salsa Roja

Hello Readers,

A staple of mine to bring to parties and get-togethers is my restaurant style salsa. I have been asked many times for the recipe, so I figured that this would be a great side dish to add to the blog! Many people don't know that salsa is Spanish for sauce. Technically I think this salsa would be classified as Salsa Roja (red sauce) but someone from Mexico would know better and probably disagree with me. haha. Traditional salsa is made with a molcajete (mortar and pestle) but I will be making mine with a food processor.

Modern vs Traditional

Salsa has a complex history that combines many cultures together. The main ingredients (tomatoes and peppers) come from Mexico and were domesticated by the Mayans and Aztecs. According to documents from Spanish conquistadors, the Aztecs were eating a salsa that was made of peppers, tomatoes, and squash seeds. Its was eaten on meat as a condiment. The onion, garlic, cilantro, and cumin, that are also used in salsa roja were domesticated in the eastern hemisphere. Interestingly enough onion and garlic were domesticated by the Egyptians and were staples of their diet; making salsa somewhat a merger of the three most famous pyramid civilizations' cuisines. Through the Colombian Exchange, the eastern hemisphere ingredients made their way over to the Americas, making salsa what we know it as today. The popularity of salsa has exploded in the United States and since 1991 has been the number one selling condiment in the country.

Mesoamerican Civilizations

My salsa recipe is based off a recipe from The Pioneer Woman. I made a few tweaks to it, mainly more spices and less tomato. You can always modify the recipe to fit your palate. Enjoy!

Josh's Restaurant Style Salsa Roja

Ingredients (Makes about 6 Cups)

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
2 10 oz cans of Rotel
1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 of a white onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of cumin

Directions:

Open canned tomatoes and Rotel. Drain well. I know it seems like cheating but Rotel adds a bit of spice and just a hint of a vinegary taste. It works well with this recipe. If you don't want to use Rotel, I would probably use canned tomatoes and jalapeno to replace it.
Chop up onion, cilantro, garlic and jalapenos into small pieces. You want to make sure that these are not too big. If they are too big the food processor might not chop the salsa finely enough. When it comes to the cilantro I just cut off the part that is pure stem. The rest I keep. If you want your salsa a little more spicy, keep the seeds and membrane with the jalapeno, if not then remove the insides. The original recipe calls for less cilantro and only a 1/4 onion, but I am a cilantro and onion fiend and have only gotten back good feedback with the amount I put in. White onion is preferable over yellow because of the way the it blends with the other flavors. If you only have yellow onion it will work out fine though.

What I remove from the cilantro bunch.

Be sure to chop up small!

Keep the seeds and membrane if you want it spicy!
Put canned and chopped up ingredients into food processor. Can't fit it all in your food processor? That is ok! My food processor is 3 1/2 cups so I just blend the salsa in four rounds and mix all up in the end. It will still taste the same.
Add the juice of lime, salt, sugar, and cumin to food processor. Mix on "chop" setting for 15-30 seconds until finely chopped. In this recipe you don't want any big chunks, but you don't want it all mushy either. Just keep an eye on it and and stop when it is the consistency you want. The original recipe that I am working off of calls for only a 1/4 tsp of each of the spices. I really enjoy the flavors they bring to the salsa though and feel like at 1/2 tsp each they enhance the salsa without overwhelming it.

Done!
Chill in refrigerator over night or eat right away with any dish of your choice! The flavors of the salsa blend together much better if it sits over night. If you don't have time for that it is ok though. At home I love eating this salsa on tacos or in a breakfast burrito. If I am going to a party, I always make sure to accompany the salsa with a bag of Juanita's tortilla chips.

I hope you get to try this recipe soon. If you have any questions about the recipe, or feedback to give, please feel free to do so in the comments below. Happy eating!

Josh

Sources:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/dips_and_sauces/history_of_salsa_sauce_the_mexican_connection.html

http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/salsas/history-of-salsa.asp

http://www.onions-usa.org/all-about-onions/history-of-onions

http://www.gillsonions.com/history

http://www.allicinfacts.com/garlic-history/