Ask Zarela: Recipes for table sauces

Tomatillo salsa nycityphoto.com

SALSA CRUDA DE TOMATILLO
(Uncooked Tomatillo Sauce)

Most restaurants and street stands have a red sauce (pico de gallo norteno or
another tomato sauce) and a green sauce on the table to be added to taste. Green sauce, salsa verde, is most often made with tomatillos, cilantro, and hot chile. There are different variations, cooked and uncooked. This version is very close to the Northern pico de gallo, but with the pleasantly tart edge of tomatillo.

l        pound tomatillos, husks removed (about l2 large tomatillos)
l        small onion, chopped (l/2 cup)
l        garlic clove, minced
l – 2         fresh jalapeno or serrano chiles (see p. 000), tops trimmed but         unseeded
l/2        cup (not packed down) cilantro leaves
l/2        cup (or as needed) water
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste

Place tomatillos in container of blender with onion, garlic, chiles, cilantro, and about l/3 – l/2 cup water. Blend with pulse motion until not quite smoothly pureed (a slight chunkiness is one of its charms). Add more water if necessary to produce a light salsa texture. Add a pinch of sugar and season with salt to taste. Serve at once.

Yield: 2 1/2 to 3 cups.

PICO DE GALLO NORTENO
(Uncooked Tomato Salsa)

This is an example of a salsa fresca or salsa cruda — “fresh” or “raw sauce,”  meaning an uncooked sauce to be used as a condiment at table or street stall. There are many variations on salsa cruda, but this simple version is known everywhere. Pico de gallo (rooster’s beak) is what we call it in northern Mexico — but don’t confuse it with the salad eaten under that name in Guadalajara and Mexico City (see recipe, p. 000). It can be served with almost any kind of dish — beans, eggs, tortillas and various antojitos, or meat, fish, or poultry. The two imperatives are that the tomatoes must be truly ripe and sweet and that the sauce should be eaten at once. If you must, you can hold it for up to two hours refrigerated and tightly covered, but it loses its magic fast. But all is not lost if some is left over; it can be quickly sauteed in a little lard, butter or vegetable oil to be served in a more durable reincarnation. In fact, it’s probably the sauce I use most in this manner.

For the right slightly coarse texture, the ingredients should be chopped separately by hand. The only thing I sometimes do by food processor is the chiles. Try to find fresh ones, by the way; canned jalapenos will work but aren’t ideal in a sauce supposed to be sparkling fresh. In a pinch, I have used the chiles from Asian markets or the South American ajis.  All these vary in hotness and must be added to taste.

2 – 4   jalapeno or  serrano chiles  or use more or less to taste,   tops trimmed but not seeded
l  medium garlic clove
4  large, ripe fresh tomatoes, peeled but not seeded (about  2  l/2 pounds)
6 – 8 scallions with part of green tops
l/4 cup ( not packed down) fresh cilantro leaves, stripped from stems
Juice of l large lime
Salt to taste
l teaspoon Mexican oregano, or to taste

With a large sharp knife, chop chiles very fine and reserve. Mince the garlic. Coarsely chop the tomatoes. Finely chop the scallions and cilantro. Place all fresh ingredients except chiles in a large bowl. If tomatoes are very dry and juiceless, gradually add up to l/2 cup cold water to give a light salsa consistency. Stir to mix ingredients. Add chiles a little at a time, tasting, until it is as hot as you like. Add l teaspoon (or to taste) crumbled oregano. Squeeze lime juice into the salsa; gradually add salt to taste. Use at once.

Yield: about 4 cups.