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The History Of Salsa

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History of Salsa

The word "salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce. The salsas that many of us think of are salsa frescas or salsa cruda, fresh sauces served as a condiment aside a Mexican meal. These uncooked sauces might be pureed until smooth, semi-chunky, or the uniformly chopped pico de gallo (my favorite).

The Chile ? Tomato Combination

The making of of a sauce by combining chiles, tomatoes, spices and other ingredients like squash seeds and even beans has been documented back to the Aztec culture..

We have Spanish-born Bernadino de Sahagun to thank for the detailed culinary history of the Aztec culture. His extensive writings documented every food common to the culture. This is an excerpt from Sahagun's writings about the food vendors in the large Aztec markets:

"He sells foods, sauces, hot sauces, fried [food], olla-cooked, juices, sauces of juices, shredded [food] with chile, with squash seeds, with tomatoes, with smoke chile, with hot chile, with yellow chile, with mild red chile sauce, yellow chile sauce, sauce of smoked chile, heated sauce, he sells toasted beans, cooked beans, mushroom sauce, sauce of small squash, sauce of large tomatoes, sauce of ordinary tomatoes, sauce of various kinds of sour herbs, avocado sauce. (Sahagun, translated 1950 -1982).

Ingredients Then and Now

The paragraph above refers to many of the ingredients in our modern-day salsas.

Large tomatoes - We believe this references is to a large red tomato similar to what we eat to day.

Ordinary tomatoes - most likely this reference is to the tomatillo or tomate verde.

Smoked chiles - The chipotle or smoked jalapeno was a staple in the Aztec diet.

Avocado - cultivated by the Aztecs the avocado was an important source of fat and protein and was used in a sauce similar to what we call guacamole.

Two Delicious Salsa Recipes:

2 c fresh plum tomato, diced

1 c fresh green tomato, diced

1/2 c fresh green bell pepper, diced

1/4 c fresh purple onion, chopped.

1 tbsp jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt.

1/8 tsp coarsely ground pepper.

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp olive oil.

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir well. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Serve with corn or flour tortilla wedges, poultry, or fish.

Yield: 3 cups (approx 6 calories per tbsp).

Mango Salsa

2 medium ripe mangoes

1 small cucumber, peeled, diced (it says seeded, but I've never bothered)

1 ripe tomato

juice of 1 lime (lemon works, too!)

pinch of salt

1/2 - 1 small fresh chile pepper, minced, or Tobasco or other hot pepper

sauce to taste (I have always used Tobasco)

1 Tablespoon chopped, fresh cilantro (It says optional, but I don't really

think so)

Peel and chop the mangoes. In a large bowl, mix together the mangoes,

cucumber, tomato, lime juice, salt, chile or tabasco, and cilantro. Let

salsa sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend before serving. Mango

salsa keeps refrigerated for 2 or 3 days.

The History Of Salsa

The history of Salsa sauce originated with the Inca people. Salsa (combination of chilies, tomatoes and other spices) can be traced to the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. The Spaniards first encountered tomatoes after their conquest of Mexico in 1519-1521, which marked the beginning of the history of Salsa sauce. Aztec lords combined tomatoes with chili peppers, ground squash seeds and consumed them mainly as a condiment served on turkey, venison, lobster, and fish. This combination was subsequently called salsa by Alonso de Molina in 1571.

Charles E. Erath of New Orleans was the first person in salsa sauce history who began manufacturing Extract of Louisiana Pepper, Red Hot Creole Peppersauce in 1916. A year later, La Victoria Foods started Salsa Brava in Los Angeles.

In Louisiana in 1923, Baumer Foods began manufacturing Crystal Hot Sauce and in 1928 Bruce Foods started making Original Louisiana Hot Sauce - two salsa sauce brands that are still in existence.

In 1941, Henry Tanklage formed La Victoria Sales Company to market a new La Victoria salsa line. He introduced red and green taco, and enchilada sauces - the first of salsa hot sauces in US. He took over the entire La Victoria operation in 1946, which manufactures ten different hot sauces now covering the entire salsa spectrum, including Green Chili Salsa and Red Salsa Jalapea.

According to the hot sauce history, salsa manufacturing in Texas began in 1947 with David and Margaret Pace and their picante sauce. In 1952, La Victoria Foods introduced the first commercial taco sauce in US and in 1955, La Preferida launched a line of salsas.

In 1975, Patti Swidler of Arizona launched Desert Rose Salsa. Four years later, in Austin (Texas), Dan Jardine began producing Jardine's commercial salsa, giving Austin the reputation in the history of Salsa Sauce as the hot sauce capital of America. Another Texas company, the El Paso Chili Company, was started in 1980 by Norma and W. Park Kerr. In 1986, Miguel's Stowe Away in Vermont launched a salsa line and in April, 1986, Sauces & Salsas Ltd. began manufacturing the Montezuma brand of hot pepper sauces and salsas in Ohio.

Between 1985 and 1990, Mexican sauce sales grew seventy-nine percent; between 1988 and 1992, the percentage of American households buying salsa increased from 16 to 36. By 1992, the top eight salsa manufacturers in the history of salsa sauce were Pace, Old El Paso, Frito-Lay, Chi-Chi's, La Victoria, Ortega, Herdez, and Newman's Own. By 1993, competition from smaller salsa companies was so fierce that Pace, Old El Paso, and six other brands saw Texas sales decline three percent.

The big news in 1994 was the buy out of two of the largest companies in the Fiery Foods Industry. Numero Uno salsa manufacturer, Pace Foods, was sold to Campbell Soup Company for an astronomical USD1.1 billion.

Some of the best sauces ever produced in the history of Salsa Sauce

Jose Goldstein Artichoke Garlic Salsa contains artichokes from Spain with mouth-watering California garlic. A sure hit with a bag of chips or your favorite meat. Great on pasta too!

La Paloma Hot Salsa and La Paloma Mild Salsa are the best of its kind. Once you savor the fresh, robust flavor of La Paloma Salsa, you'll be hooked.

Scorned Woman Salsa has won the 1st Place in Fancy Food Magazines Hot & Spicy Food Show in 1997.

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