Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with cuisine

Much like St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people with no trace of Irish heritage, Cinco de Mayo has become a day of celebration for people who do not trace their ancestry to Mexico. In fact, History.com notes that Cinco de Mayo is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, where the day commemorates a symbolic yet not significantly strategic win by a heavily outnumbered Mexican army over French forces sent by Napoleon III to establish an empire on Mexican land. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become a day to commemorate Mexican culture, including its much-loved cuisine.

Food is front and center at many Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Home cooks hosting friends or those who simply want to enjoy some homemade Mexican fare this Cinco de Mayo can try their hand at making salsa,

The term "salsa" not only refers to a Latin style of dance, but it also doubles as the name of one of the world's most popular condiments. "Salsa" is the Spanish and Italian word for sauce, and the salsa that many people enjoy can be used as a sauce, topping, dip, or flavoring for many types of foods.

Although salsa has been America's favorite condiment since 2000, its popularity can be traced back thousands of years. The wild tomato, the main component of many salsas, is indigenous to South America. However, Central American nations were some of the first to domesticate the tomato and mix it with other ingredients to produce tasty salsa combinations. It is believed that the salsa we know today originated with the Incan people. Incan lords are purported to have combined tomatoes with chili peppers and ground squash seeds and consumed their salsa primarily as a condiment served on turkey, venison, lobster, and fish. Mayans and Aztecs likely had their interpretations of salsa as well.

Hot peppers were an important component of many salsas, and in the early twentieth century, food manufacturers began offering hot sauces in the United States. Some were geared to and named for Louisiana and Creole regions, where spicy foods were the norm and enjoyed regularly.

Salsa sauces evolved and became more authentic interpretations of the earliest salsas produced in Central America. They were manufactured to meet the rising demand of Mexican cuisine in Texas and elsewhere in the world. Salsas became thicker and chunkier and more about fresh ingredients.

Today there are many different types of salsa, from salsa roja to salsa criolla - a sliced-onion version - to salsa verde. Many jarred, canned and bottled salsas and picante sauces sold in the United States in grocery stores are forms of salsa cruda or pico de gallo and typically have a semi-liquid texture.

(See the strawberry avocado salsa recipe on page >>>)

Whether you're putting salsa atop tacos, using it to season eggs or dipping tortillas into its flavorful base, salsa has become one of the most popular foods across the globe.

NAN Dining Guide Spotlight on 05/05/2019

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