Salsa verde () is a type of spicy,

green sauce Green sauce or greensauce is a family of cold, uncooked sauces based on chopped herbs, including the Spanish and Italian ''salsa verde'', the French ''sauce verte'', the German ''Grüne Soße'' or ''Frankfurter Grie Soß'' (Frankfurt dialect) ...

in Mexican cuisine based on tomatillo and green

chili peppers Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

. The tomatillo-based Mexican ''salsa verde'' dates to the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Valley of Mexico ...

, as documented by the Spanish physician Francisco Hernández, and is distinct from the various medieval European parsley-based

s. In the cuisines of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, it is often served with Mexican or

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United ...

style dishes like

enchiladas An enchilada (, ) is a Mexican dish consisting of a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a savory sauce. Enchiladas can be filled with various ingredients, including meats, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables, or combinations. ...

and

chicharrón (, , plural ; pt, torresmo ; fil, chicharon; ch, chachalon) is a dish generally consisting of fried pork belly or fried pork rinds. may also be made from chicken, mutton or beef. Name , as a dish with sauce, or as finger-food snacks, are ...

(pork rinds). The version typical of New Mexico consists mostly of

green chile Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

rather than tomatillos.

Types

This green sauce comes in subtypes: cooked sauce, in which the ingredients are cooked and then ground; roasted salsa, in which the elements are roasted on a and then ground; raw sauce, in which ingredients are ground and eaten without cooking; and a combination in which some of the elements are cooked. A or a blender can be used for the grinding process. Cooking or roasting the tomatillo will enhance the flavor, providing a sweeter salsa. After the sauce is prepared, it can be cooked again in a pan with a little oil.

References

*Bayless, Rick; ''Mexico One Plate at a Time'' (2000); *Muñoz Zurita, Ricardo; ''Pequeño Larousee de la Gastronomía Mexicana'' (2013); {{Mexican cuisine Chili pepper dishes Sauces Mexican cuisine

Types

See also

References