quote:

Originally posted by BR

I agree with MGWerks… you must be talking about chimichurri. Just whiz together a handful of parsley, 1/4 lemon or lime juiced, several cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, S&P, 1-2 T red wine vinegar and drizzle olive oil in to the desired consistency. It’s very good on a nice rare steak.

And try substituting cilantro for half (or all) of the parsley for a fresher peppery taste!

Interesting–my fiance’, who is from El Salvador refers to all Latinos as "Spanish". The gringos in our area refer to all Latinos as Hispanic. And I have a Cuban friend who says only persons of Spanish ancestry are Hispanic. I’ve always assumed "Latino" was the proper term. Hey–whatever happened to "Chicano"?

quote:

Originally posted by Jennifer_4

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<div style="border: 1px #999999 solid; background-color: #DCDCDC; padding: 4px;">Originally posted by Richard Brooks Alba

Folks,

I remember from my youth the Mexican restaurant ‘gringo’ shuffle: "Is green hotter than red – or milder? I forget." And that question STILL seems to get posed far too often in a place that should fundamentally understand that it all depends on the ingredients. If you don’t know your chiles (and even if you do – the naming conventions have gotten pretty sloppy because of lapses of attention, memory, mental discipline, whatever…), you have to sample. "What if it’s too hot?" Always sample as if it will be. Those of us who have been eating this stuff since infancy still sample [unless we really already know] before diving in. I long ago gave up trying to get people to just taste, rather tha play ’20 Questions’ to determine whether their tastebuds might be at risk for permanent damage. I now encourage those folks to eat something besides Mexican, lest a stray pepper injure their digestive tract.

Even within my own family, there’s a tremendous breadth of variation in how we prepare our salsas – my mom cooked all her salsas, my sister does it all in a blender, and I like to blacken my chiles [fresh serranos, typically] and tomatoes before I chop up my salsa fresca. We all like tomatillos, but almost never make salsa featuring them – consequently, our family gatherings can feature 100% red salsas. (Unless I make my yellow salsa [yellow tomatoes, pineapple and/or mango, serranos, lime juice, easy on the cilantro] for some nice grilled fish.)
Buena suerte,
Richard
Berkeley/SF, CA

P.S. The usage of "Hispanic" in this forum (and elsewhere in the universe) warrants some attention here. Except in reference to things or people from Spain – or of, or under, Spanish influence – "Hispanic" isn’t properly used to describe all peoples from – or with origins in – Latin America. Many, but not all, speak [or come from traditions of speaking] Spanish. The preferred term for this group, at least in the communities that I’ve encountered in my limited travels, is "Latino." The term is used for broad-community references, not for narrow-community reference. In the same way that "European cuisine" would lump ‘Wiener Schnitzel’ with ‘bangers & mash,’ "Latino cuisine" would lump ‘tacos de pescado’ with a ‘Cuban sandwich.’ For the purpose of this forum, ‘Mexican’ (and other nationalist references) is exactly what’s called for. Where things get especially confusing – and why "Hispanic" muddies the water – is that there are foods mentioned here that are pre-Hispanic (or ‘pre-Columbian,’ if you prefer), like corn tortillas. (Other pre-Hispanic offerings would include tomatoes & chocolate.) Many folks that you might find in California & elsewhere in the Americas today were never vanquished by the Spanish – only recently, in the time of agricultural collapse in their communities of origin, have they even learned a little Spanish [& more recently, English] to get by economically. Latinos understand & [mostly] accept "Latino" – Latinos understand & [often] resent "Hispanic." While not exactly derogatory,14,11332.069,1,40820,167.199.188.172
11400,11332,11332,2008-09-18 15:28:23,RE: green sauces and salsas+chile verde”

quote:

………
NewMex food doesn’t use tomatillos at all, except in fusion food in Santa Fe restaurants.[}:)]

I used tomatillos for the first time this summer. Also called "husk tomatoes", I find them to be a nice addition to a lot of mixtures. Mine came from a friend. I plan to grow some next summer.

I agree with MGWerks… you must be talking about chimichurri. Just whiz together a handful of parsley, 1/4 lemon or lime juiced, several cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, S&P, 1-2 T red wine vinegar and drizzle olive oil in to the desired consistency. It’s very good on a nice rare steak.

quote:

Originally posted by PapaJoe8

Ok, I found my favorite brand of Salsa Verde… Herdez. Not that I dont’t like almost all Salsa Verdes but this brand is the one I like best.

Joe, the Herdez group makesmany fine salsas besides the verde, and I can vouch for over half of them. But a real prize, also manufactured by Herdez, is the B�FALO brand of hot sauces. They are thicker, like A-1, and have much of the pepper’s fruit flavors intact, instead of the vinegary flavor of most other sauces. Made and used in Mexico for 50 years, it only runs a buck or two a bottle. I go through 2-3 bottles a month – by myself.

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

What about the green sauce served in Spanish (Spain) restaurants? I believe the main ingredient is parsley….(oil, garlic, etc.)

I’m betting that the salsa you are looking for is chimichurri, most often associated with South American churrasco cooking. Many different recipes for it on the net, but my favorite chimichurri, at Los Barrios in San Antonio, has as yet escaped either my searching or duplication at home. Experimenting continues…

quote:

Originally posted by tdeneek

We planted a whole bunch of tomatillo plants last summer and when they started to ripen we realized we had no idea what to do with them. (anyone else ever plant anything just for fun?) Anyway, we found a really simple salsa recipe and with a few moderations, WOW was it good. We took chips and salsa to every bbq we went to. We also sold a ton of them at our farmers market, we have a fairly large mexican population up here, and they really like buying fresh tomatillos.

I also at one time worked in a Mexican restauraunt and our head chefs loved to make up new salsas all the time. At one time we had 6-8 different salsas of differing degrees of heat and flavor. I loved it. I am such a salsa lover!

Mike, the brands I mentioned earlier, Herdez for salsa verde, and La Costena for mexican green sauce, are not bad like they come out of the jar. Fix em up like BR says will make them even better. The fish sauce? I have not tried that yet. But, BR likes it! [;)]
Joe

Mike… just buy whatever is available and doctor it up a bit with some finely diced onions, a squeeze of lime juice, minced garlic, maybe a little cilantro or anything that suits your taste. Personally I add a couple splashes of fish sauce but that’s just me. You can puree some diced tomatoes or salsa or even a chipotle pepper. The sky is the limit.

Are there any good green salsa’s on the market worth trying-canned,jarred?

What about the green sauce served in Spanish (Spain) restaurants? I believe the main ingredient is parsley….(oil, garlic, etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

hi ya seamus, welcome! anyone who checks in on the green thread is a friend of mine[:o)]

Thanks, Bill… I’m a recent convert to green sauces, and am enjoying trying different things that are new to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmos

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

Do you have chile verde back there? Pork cooked long and slow in a fantastic green sauce, usually served over or beside rice. W/ flour tortillas to wrap it up in.

We recently had a Mexican restaurant open in Cortland N.Y. that is not half bad, having lived in Chicago I have a pretty base to compare to. One thing they do very well is the chile verde, I agree its a great dish.

I can also finally get tomatillas at the grocery store to make my own salsa verde.

I’m betting that it’s Garcia’s since the post is from 2003… I lived near there at the time and that place is one of my favorites. We had one open up in the Syracuse area recently, but it didn’t last long unfortunately. They make a killer tomatillo sauce that you have to ask for, nice and hot with lots of flavor.

Wow, Thanks BR! Avaocados and sour cream… Legran said it was different! Sounds real good!
Joe