Salsas That Cook

In their Chicago backyard, Rick and his daughter, Lanie, gather the last of the season’s tomatoes to make a big batch of Salsa Mexicana, the fresh tomato salsa sometimes known as Pico de Gallo. And that’s the starting point for a fast-paced salsa dance that goes way beyond tomatoes. In Mexico, salsas can be bright and fresh, dark and earthy, red or green, raw or roasted – and they’re more of a condiment for food than a dip for chips. At Los Parados, a favorite Mexico City taquería, Rick and Lanie show us the three pillars of Mexican salsa: that familiar fresh-tomato salsa Mexicana, salsa de molcajete made from roasted tomato, chile and garlic pounded in a lava-stone mortar, and red chile salsa, made by toasting, soaking and grinding dried chile de árbol. But that’s just the beginning. At Manolo, another popular taquería, they discover a rich, spicy, peanut salsa and a classic, creamy avocado-tomatillo salsa.