Salsa

Salsa sauce is a vegetable dressing for Mexican cuisine. Bright taste and color contributed to the fact that it appeared in many kitchens around the world, albeit with some changes in the recipe. By reducing the number of basic ingredients and adding additional ones, you can create unique sauces of various spiciness based on Mexican spicy seasonings.

Salsa sauce came to Europe from Mexico along with Spanish conquistadors conquerors in the sixteenth century. Commercially, this sauce began to be produced in New Orleans at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today it has become one of the most popular hot spices in American cuisine.

Types of sauce

Salsa sauce is traditionally made from ripe tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, cilantro, lime juice and salt. This dressing in Mexico is called salsa roja, which means “red sauce” in Spanish, because it has a rich red color.

Salsa can be raw or hot. Raw salsa is served immediately after cooking, that is, grinding, without cooking. Hot sauce after slicing the ingredients is subjected to another cooking. On the basis of hot salsa, in the future, a variety of snacks, first, main dishes, as well as other sauces are prepared. In salsa, vegetables can be sliced ​​or chopped to homogeneity.

On the basis of this popular Latin American sauce, many recipes have been created in the world, which take into account the taste preferences of different national cuisines. There is even a sweet salsa made with cherries.

There is another type of this dressing – salsa verde. This kind of raw sauce, which is an Italian interpretation of Mexican salsa. Salsa Verde has a green color, which gives it the greens of herbs, capers, onions. It also includes vinegar, garlic, anchovies and olive oil.

Chemical composition

The composition of the classic Mexican salsa sauce is characterized by its low calorie content – 80 kcal per 100 g. It contains 18,1 g of carbohydrates, 0,8 g of protein, 0,1 g of fat.

Fats are found in the oils of those ingredients that make up salsa: tomatoes, peppers and green leafy vegetables. These are palmitoleic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, as well as traces of saturated fatty acids (myristic, palmitic, stearic).

Carbohydrates in acute dressing are mainly represented by mono- and disaccharides (glucose, fructose and sucrose), as well as starch and dextrins.

The sauce contains many vitamins, macro- and microelements. Moreover, in raw salsa, the concentration of vitamins unchanged is much higher than in hot. This is due to the fact that part of the beneficial vitamins is destroyed under the influence of high temperature.

The alkaloid capsaicin, which is contained in large amounts in chili peppers and is an irritant plant compound, gives the sauce a known burning effect. The more this pepper is added to the dressing, the more capsaicin in it, and the sharper its taste.

Useful Properties

In order to maximize the beneficial properties of salsa, it is better to use it raw. In this dressing reveals the fresh aroma and characteristic taste of vegetables. Improving the blood supply to the digestive organs, capsaicin stimulates the secretion of digestive juices, normalizes the work of the pancreas and the liver, accelerates peristalsis, thereby preventing constipation. Acute alkaloid of salsa sauce inhibits the reproduction of helicobacter pylori in the stomach, which prevents the appearance of peptic ulcer. Capsaicin also inhibits the growth and development of pathogenic microflora in the intestine.

Improving the blood supply to the respiratory organs, salsa sauce helps to dilute bronchial mucus and facilitate its expectoration. There is also information about the effectiveness of capsaicin in the fight against allergic reactions and diseases, in particular, with bronchial asthma.

American scientists have shown that the pungent alkaloid of chilli capsaicin is able to show an anti-cancer effect when it is used regularly. In laboratory studies, in mice with prostate cancer, it was found that capsaicin, when administered, stimulates apoptosis (self-destruction) of malignant cells, which leads to a decrease in cancer. A decrease in the level of prostate-specific antigen, a substance produced by prostate cancer cells, was also found in the blood of these mice. This indicator proves the anticarcinogenic effect of capsaicin.

Vitamins and minerals of salsa have a beneficial effect on many organs and systems of the human body:

• strengthen the vascular walls (ascorbic acid);
• contribute to blood formation (iron, manganese);
• increase immunity (calcium, copper, zinc);
• accelerate metabolism (vitamins A, E, C, group B);
• improve brain activity (B vitamins, phosphorus);
• restore visual acuity (carotenoids);
• strengthen memory (vitamins of group B);
• improve hormones (vitamins A, E).

Mexicans believe that salsa improves mood and fights depression. Sauce has been found to increase endorphin production. Endorphins are substances that are produced in the human body, and are natural painkillers and anti-stress compounds.

Acting mainly in the brain, endorphins contribute to the dilution of blood in the cerebral vessels, preventing their clotting.

Salsa sauce can be called dietary. Firstly, it is low-calorie, so it can be eaten even during weight loss. Due to its severity, it is not used in large quantities, so even the amount of calories that it contains does not practically affect the daily calorie content. Secondly, the sauce does not contain animal fats and, accordingly, “bad” cholesterol, therefore it can be consumed in moderation by people with atherosclerotic diseases (atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, carotid artery stenosis).

Possible harm

Salsa can be not only beneficial, but also harmful to the human body. In large quantities it should not be consumed even by healthy people. Regular consumption of spicy dishes, especially if such dishes are not familiar to man since childhood, can cause erosive processes in the stomach.

Acute refueling is contraindicated for use by people with inflammatory and erosive diseases of the stomach and intestines (gastritis, peptic ulcer, colitis, enteritis, pancreatitis, hepatitis).

Prolonged use of salsa sauce in large quantities can lead to loss of sensory taste receptors in the mouth. Food for such people will seem tasteless and fresh.

The sauce can raise blood pressure, so people with a tendency to hypertension need to use salsa with great care, but it is better to stop using it altogether. This spicy dressing should be avoided by people with gout and urolithiasis, as it can aggravate these conditions.

Cooking application

There are many recipes for making salsa. Classic salsa sauce is made from tomatoes, hot chili peppers, onions, lime juice, cilantro and spices. In Mexico, it is served with national dishes – tartilla, tacos, quesadillas, nachos. In European cuisine, it is used as a sauce for fried bird or fish, vegetables, spaghetti, beans.

Mexican Salsa Sauce

To cook traditional Mexican salsa rocha at home, you need to take:

• 0,5 kg of tomatoes;
• 2 pcs onions;
• lime juice (you can lemon juice);
• chilli;
• salt;
• ground black pepper;
• coriander;
• fresh cilantro.

Tomatoes must first remove the skin. They can be crushed into cubes or grind into mashed potatoes (the consistency of the future sauce depends on it). Cut onions into large cubes, finely chop cilantro. Mix with tomatoes, add salt and spices. Chilli pepper before adding the dressing must be cleaned of seeds and internal partitions. Cut into small cubes, add to sauce to taste. After mixing, pour the lime juice to acidify.

The taste of this classic sauce in Mexico is very spicy. But its severity, as well as acidity, can be corrected by adding less pepper, spices or lime juice (lemon). If, after cutting and mixing the ingredients, boil the dressing, then it can be preserved for the winter, for example, as adjika.

In addition to the classic recipe, the sauce is prepared with green tomatoes, feijoa, avocado, physalis, olives, mangoes, beans, onions, cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkin seeds, nectarine and other products unusual for Mexicans. It has gained great popularity in cuisines around the world.

No less famous is the Italian interpretation of Mexican salsa sauce – “green sauce” (salsa verde). Green salsa refers to raw sauces.

Like the Mexican version, in our country, Italian salsa verde is difficult to buy in stores, but it can be easily prepared at home.

Italian salsa verde

For this sauce you will need capers (2 tablespoons), garlic (2 cloves), canned anchovies (6 pcs.), Pickled gherkins (1 handful), Dijon mustard (1 tablespoon), red wine vinegar (3 tablespoons) l.), olive oil (8 tbsp. l.), coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and any greens (parsley, basil, mint, tarragon, sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary).

If all the ingredients are finely chopped and mix well. You will get a thick green sauce, which is added to meat or fish dishes. If you grind the components with a blender, you get a “dipping” salsa verde, which is served with tortillas or bread.

Conclusions

Salsa sauce is a popular hot Latin American gas station, which is very famous and popular all over the world. Because of its red color, it is called Roch salsa, which in Spanish means “red”.

A classic salsa sauce is made from tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, cilantro and black pepper. The spicy taste of salsa is provided by chili pepper, which contains pungent alkaloid capsaicin.

Due to its chemical composition, red salsa has many beneficial effects on the human body. It improves appetite, promotes good digestion, has a positive effect on brain activity, dilutes sputum, and has anti-cancer properties.

However, to use this sauce is not shown to all people. It should be avoided in inflammatory diseases of the digestive system, hypertension, gout, urolithiasis.

This sauce in different cuisines of the world was interpreted in its own way, taking into account national taste preferences. By removing the excessive sharpness of chili peppers and adding green vegetables and anchovies, the Italians made a salsa verde – green sauce on the basis of this dressing.

These sauces can be bought in our stores, but so the buyer loses the ability to adjust their sharpness and acidity. Both Rocha salsa and Verde salsa are easy to make at home, making them from your favorite components in the family. On their basis, you can create your own unique sauce.