Looking for salsa

Anyone know where I can buy some good, fresh salsa?

Terrasini wrote:Anyone know where I can buy some good, fresh salsa?

Sure, your kitchen. All you need is a couple of dollars worth of ingredients and a sharp knife.

Dice tomato, white onion, jalapeno in diminishing proportions and place in bowl. Add fresh cilantro, enough to be noticed, but not overpower. Squeeze of fresh lime, salt, pepper and, Bob's yer Uncle, Fresh Salsa. I typically add a wee bit of minced fresh garlic and a little olive oil.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sal:

For the basic kind of salsa (which is what I guessed you were looking for too), I agree with Gary, that the best and easiest way to have salsa that is fresh when you want it is to make it yourself. You can find such salsa for sale at the take-out counter in some Mexican groceries/carnicerias, sometimes at the warming-tray counter or sometimes in the produce section... But sometimes such pre-made salsas are starting to look a little tired when you come upon them...

Is that the kind of salsa you're looking for?

Antonius

This may be heresy to some, and of course nothing beats fresh salsa, but I just discovered very good fresh salsa in an unlikely place -- Dominick's. In the refrigerated section, where they house the fresh pastas and etc., they have a house brand of salsas which I've found to be quite good. They're very simple; no chipotle flavorings or what have you; just the ingredients mentioned by Gary above. Has anyone else tried them?

You're right, making your own salsa is probably the best way to go. Luckily, my wife makes a good salsa. I was hoping to try something different, something authentic. Maybe a salsa verde. Are salsa's different from region to region?

Terrasini wrote:You're right, making your own salsa is probably the best way to go. Luckily, my wife makes a good salsa. I was hoping to try something different, something authentic. Maybe a salsa verde. Are salsa's different from region to region?

Yep, there are many basic styles of salsas and those in turn have variations from region to region and likely household to household. There is a basic divide of green vs. red for fresh salsas, but that's just a basic divide. Which chile(s) one uses, which herb, whether you include garlic, etc. etc. You can use raw vegetables or roast them, you can add fresh chiles or dried ones or a combination thereof. You can render them creamy through inclusion of a little avocado... The variations are endless.

Rick Bayless sells a number of good bottled salsas that you might want to try. You can use them as is out of the bottle but some are also handy for quick cooking options. Check those out (Frontera brand, available in finer groceries everywhere...)... Also check out his book, Salsas That Cook or the appropriate sections toward the beginning of each and any of his books.

Antonius

Frontera's chipotle salsa is among my favorites, though it's on the runny side. The mango salsa sold in the refrigerated section of Costco is excellent, too. (Don't worry about buying such a big container -- it keeps well.)

Here are a few more salsa recipes:

Chile de arbol salsa

Joel's Treppaning Tomatillo Salsa

Olive salsa

Mango black bean salsa

Mango salsa

Peruvian spicy salsa a la Rinconcito Sudamericano

I'm the Joel of the Treppaning salsa, and I have a couple other salsa-making notes.

For a salsa fresca or cruda, the fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers and seasoning are key. If your tomatoes aren't the best, a little cider vinegar or a bit more lime can help. To keep the liquid down, slice tomatoes in half equatorially, and squeeze gently over the sink -- you get most of the seeds and liquid out of them easily. Bayless recommends chopping your onions fine then rinsing them briefly to remove bitterness.

I prefer raw with raw (peppers with tomatoes or tomatillos) and cooked with cooked. Dried pepper salsas are the trickiest to make in terms of balancing flavors. Fire-roasting is my favorite way to add flavor. It dehydrates, carmelizes, and the charring all improve things.

I'm not fond of most commercial salsa verdes due to the high vinegar content and acidity of tomatillos. I use home-grown tomatillos riper than normal, and the roasting brings out their own sweetness too.

I think the OP wanted places to buy salsa, which I do not think is such an odd request (especially to buy salsas beyond industrial products). I would note a couple of things. For one, as much as it may seem simple to chop up a bunch of stuff for a salsa fresca or pico de gallo, it's not necessarily that easy to make a lot of salsas. Well, not so much complicated as time consuming and work, with roasting, grinding, chopping, seeding, etc. I can see why someone would want to foresake that. The other thing is, how often do you want just a bit of salsa (or anything), so you do not want to get out the blender (and more) to go to work.

That said, do you think I have a great idea for a source? Not really. What I have is some more basic advice. That is, all the big Mexican supermarkets, Carneceria Jimenez and Carneceria Guanajunto, which have several locations, sell great house made salsas. I'm not sure where the OP lives, but it seems like any place in Chicago is close enough these days to a good Mexican market.

Happy hunting.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:That said, do you think I have a great idea for a source? Not really. What I have is some more basic advice. That is, all the big Mexican supermarkets, Carneceria Jimenez and Carneceria Guanajunto, which have several locations, sell great house made salsas. I'm not sure where the OP lives, but it seems like any place in Chicago is close enough these days to a good Mexican market.

Add Tony's to that list. Ask at the meat counter.

Fox and Obel sells a couple of decent house made salsas. One I like is the roasted tomato. I used to buy fresh salsa from Hyde Park Produce, on 53rd Street in Hyde Park. It has an oregano flavor that is highly addictive. Their guacamole is also nice. They are at the deli counter in the back and sold by the pound. I recommend the trough size container.

Kristen

Salsa is of course best freshly made. Besides, as a number of people have mentioned, it is very simple to make. That said, the quality of grocery store tomatoes quite often leave much to be desired. For the past year or so, I've outsourced my basic salsa to Pete's fresh market*. They have a number of salsas, in a refrigerated display opposite (to the right of) the deli. The basic 'salsa' I get is the one labelled pico de gallo and is priced $1.79 (per plastic tub or per lb.) It is a bit watery, but has a wonderful fresh flavor, generously cilantroed, nice heat and keeps well for four to five days (it helps to look for the ones with a later 'packed on' date ). For the price and the corresponding quality vs. price of tomatoes, it is my choice of salsa. I will mention, FWIW, that prior to discovering this I had generally always made my own. They also have a salsa verde, with tomatillos, which is also good, but I prefer making my own. I first bought their salsa, intrigued by the salsa chile de arbol, a liquid red 'sauce' chock full of the chile seeds. It is very flavorful but has a little too much heat for (my) regular use (but nice, a large spoonful at a time to spice up other cooked dishes - I wish they sold smaller amounts, although this does keep much longer). I also get the tub of sour cream (crema) next to the salsas (can't remember the brand, but it's not the VV Supremo (?) I'll edit in the right names and brands after my next trip there).
Pete's also sells guacamole, in the deli section - a tub is always kept out for tasting. It is alright, but fresh homemade is much better, given that you can always pick up some fair priced avocados there.


On a totally unrelated note - Pete's has started selling goat (chivo) for some time now @ (iirc) $2.29/lb (not prepackaged). I cannot tell whether it is in fact mutton :?: link

*The 47th/Kedzie location. I have found the quality to be somewhat better and more consistent than the 57th/Kedzie location.


Pete's Fresh Market
4700 S Kedzie,
Chicago, 60632
(773) 523-4600

I, too, find that Pete's Market has some very good fresh salsa. They normally have a pico de gallo, a salsa verde, and salsa roja. I go to the one on 43rd & Pulaski, since it's a stone's throw away from my house.

As for making fresh salsa, it's all about the tomatoes, naturally. If you can't find good tomatoes (preferably home-grown), it's difficult to make good fresh salsa. Although you can certainly get away with quality canned tomatoes in a cooked salsa.

La Pasadita on Ashland (the more southerly one on the west side of the street, I believe it's 1132 N. Ashland) has AMAZING fresh salsa negra. I'm not sure what's in it--definitely some roasted poblanos and probably tomatillos and serranos--but it's so charred it really is almost black, and is the hottest thing I have ever put in my mouth.

It might be too hot for daily usage (unless you're me), but if you ask at the front counter, they'll sell it to you in horchata cups. (If you eat in the restaurant, they'll bring you a nice sample at the table.)

As far as jarred salsas, I like Frontera's chipotle and tomatillo salsas. If you just want something to go with chips, Trader Joe's smoky black bean dip is quite nice.