Salsa verde () is a type of spicy,
green sauce in
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...
based on
tomatillo and green
chili peppers.
The tomatillo-based Mexican ''salsa verde'' dates to the
Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...
, as documented by the Spanish physician
Francisco Hernández, and is distinct from the various
medieval European parsley-based
green sauces.
In the cuisines of Mexico and
the Southwestern United States, it is often served with Mexican or
Tex-Mex style dishes like
enchiladas and
chicharrón (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 combina ...
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.
See also
*
Green sauce
*
Salsa roja
*
Pipián (sauce)
Pipián is a sauce from Mexican cuisine made with puréed greens and thickened with ground pumpkin seeds. The sauce is said to have origins in the ancient Aztec and Mayan cuisines.
The greens used to make the sauce include tomatillos and peppers ...
, another Mexican green sauce
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