The Many Types of Salsa

I traveled to Mexico once or twice a year for 18 years as a kid, usually in the very back seat of the lumbering turquoise panel truck we called "Chamuyo". The Dodge was like a friendly beast, colorful and expressive with two great headlight eyes and a hint of a smile under the massive front hood. My mother told me the name meant "Green dragon" in Spanish which delighted me for some reason. I loved to tell people the his name. As an adult, I discovered "chamuyo" is street slang for "bullshitter". Thanks, Mom, for once again fooling me with your wicked sense of humor and colorful personality!

My mother was a raconteur and the life of the party. With a brilliant mind and ever present sense of humor, my mother charmed and amazed everyone she met. In our travels throughout Mexico, she made friends everywhere--from poor fishermen living in shacks on the beach who shared their caldo de tortuga with us, to the film director Emilio Fernández whom she met in Chapultepec Park; he invited our family to dinner that week. She was forever making instant best friends and had loyal and devoted friends throughout her long life. But, as a mother she was confusing. Her love of a good story led her to embellish the parts that got a good laugh, to the extent that I never quite knew what was real or fabrication when it came to her life. Pale white Anglo, she was a master of disguise with her dark wig and colorful sarape. Her amazing facility for languages meant she could speak fluent Spanish and pass as a native, accompanied by her dark husband--my dad--full Japanese but with a mustache she had carefully penciled on to turn him into a local. He looked the part but was the polar opposite when it came to languages--he had to keep his mouth shut or blow his disguise. One time the sight of a wild herd in the distance broke down his reserve and he pointed them out to our new Mexican friends" "Horse-o, horse-o!".

Chamuyo carried us all over Mexico, often getting stuck in the sand while my mother quickly found a nice truck driver to help us out--another instant friend. We camped along the way, though "camping" in the sense most people know it has nothing to do with what we did. There were no cushy mattress pads or stoves. I slept in the stuff sack instead of a sleeping bag when I was young and often there was no tent. I remember waking up one morning on a dung heap surrounded by cattle after we literally rolled out of Chamuyo late at night in the dark. We cooked our meals over a fire and the youngest one--me--was sent out of the tent in the morning to make the coffee. My mother used to boast that I could make a campfire and coffee when I was 4, oblivious to the unhappy expression on my face as I recalled the dread of that onerous duty. My daughter and boyfriend have heard all these stories of my privations and secretly thought I was exaggerating until I found photos of those days. The black and white images seem to be of 1930s Dustbowl Okies with us dirty from subsistence travel with our motley collection of tin pots over the fire. Chamuyo was resolutely steadfast in the photos, witness to the ardors of "dirt camping" but also witness to the many laughs and jolly times we had on the road.

A wide range of diverse regional cuisine developed in Mexico due to the country's mountainous topography and the difficulty in travel. Historically, the north produced wheat and pork and the south more corn, dairy and beef. The Yucatan Peninsula, is rainy and lush so bananas, avocados, coconuts, mangos and black beans were available. Ubiquitous is the use of salsa. Some of the best known general categories are salsa fresca (also known as salsa cruda) which has raw tomato, onion, garlic, chili and cilantro, salsa verde (see below) which is made with tomatillo, pico de gallo (means “rooster’s beak”) which is a dry version of salsa fresca, salsa roja which has cooked tomatoes, salsa negra which is made from roasted chipotles, salsa tacquera (taco sauce) a smooth, blended sauce made from tomatillos and morita chili (smoked Jalapenos), salsa ranchera which is served warm, mole poblano which is made from chocolate, almonds, and chili, and mango salsa. Click the salsa name for more recipes off the web! Salsas are used as toppings, fillers and side condiments. Below are two of my versions:

YUCATAN MANGO SALSA:
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 Habanero or 2 Jalapeno (for hot salsa) peppers, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1/8 tsp. white pepper
salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl, serve immediately. Makes about 2 cups.

ROASTED GARLIC AND TOMATO SALSA TACQUERA:
2 medium tomatoes, cut in half
1 head of garlic, unpeeled
2 Anaheim or Serrano chilis
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cut the bottom off the garlic head and peel the loose skin off but leave the cloves and their skins intact. Wrap in a piece of tin foil and put in oven. Make a slit in the side of the chilis--remove the seeds if you don't want very hot salsa. Place the tomato halves and chilis on a piece of tin foil on a baking sheet and turn up the edges to catch any juice as the tomatoes bake. Put in the oven and roast about 15 minutes until cooked through and charred.
Put the tomatoes, the chilis (minus the stems) into a blender. When the garlic is soft, you can unwrap the head and squeeze the cooked garlic meat out into the blender. Add the cilantro, lime juice, pepper and salt. Pulse until smooth, stopping and scraping the sides down with a spatula if needed. Season to taste with salt. Makes about 3 cups.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo! Tangy tomatillo spices mouthwatering crab enchiladas to pair with the 2009 Chateau Julien Monterey County Gewurztraminer.

CRAB ENCHILADAS WITH TOMATILLO SALSA VERDE:

SALSA VERDE:
6 medium tomatillos
2 large green chilis (Anaheim for mild spice, Jalapeno for hot)
1/4 medium onion (for cooking only)
1 clove garlic (for cooking only)
1/2 cup chopped onion (uncooked)
2 clove garlic (uncooked)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/8 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
Put the tomatillos, chilis, 1/4 onion and clove of garlic into a medium saucepan, cover with water and boil until the chilis are tender.  Remove chilis and tomatillos and let cool. Remove the seeds and stems of the chilis (no need to peel either). Put them into a blender with the uncooked onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, lemon juice and 3/4 cup of cooking liquid. Blend until smooth, adding part of the cooking liquid if needed for the proper consistency.
CRAB ENCHILADAS:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup peeled and minced raw potato
1 cup crab meat (2 6 oz. cans, drained)
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/8 tsp. white pepper
salt to taste
1/2 c. sour cream
1  cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or 1/2 cup goat cheese + 1/2 cup Monterey Jack
olive oil
12 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, then cook the onion, garlic, celery, cumin, chili powder and potato in it until cooked (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Potato should be minced, not diced, so it will cook easily. Remove from heat, let cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in the crab meat, parsley, sour cream and either 1/2 cup of goat cheese or 1/2 cup of shredded Monterey Jack. The goat cheese will be creamier, with a slight tang; the Monterey Jack will be richer and milder.

Spread out a couple of squares of paper towel, three layers deep, on your counter or cutting board. Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with oil and put over medium heat (don't let the heat get too high where the oil will smoke). Place as many tortillas in as you can without overlapping and cook them briefly so they are soft but not browned (about 15 seconds). As they are done, place them on the paper towels to drain. In a 8" square casserole, pour a thin layer of the salsa verde over the bottom. Dip a tortilla in the salsa verde then place about a heaping tablespoon of crab meat mixture in the middle and spread it out to the sides with the spoon, roll up, then line up in the casserole. (This process is easiest done in the casserole itself so the sauce stays in the dish and doesn't drip on the counter.) Spoon the remaining salsa verde over the top, sprinkle with 1/2 cup Monterey Jack and back for about 30 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

Serves 4-6. Pair with the crisp 2009 Chateau Julien Monterey County Gewurztraminer.