The Country Dish

Instructor: Welcome to salsa class! Who’s ready to learn how to dance?

Me, hiding a bag of tortilla chips: There’s been a misunderstanding…

Now, this recipe for Tammi’s Salsa is my kind of “salsa class!” It’s bursting with juicy tomatoes, sweet red onion, crisp red pepper, flavorful cilantro, and a hit of zesty lime for fresh and easy, south-of-the-border flavor! And the heat level is easily adjustable to suit every palate. Muy picante, por favor!

Let’s taco ’bout ancient history, and geography, and… my childhood:

My mother did not make salsa. In fact, wonderful cook that she is, I don’t remember her having much in the way of a Mexican repertoire at all until I was a teenager. Perhaps because, as hard as it is to imagine these days, the influence of Mexican cuisine has not been around in our corner of Southern Oregon for all that long. Until my father joined the Marines back in the 50’s and was sent to basic training down near L.A., he had never heard of “tacos.” Until my aunt married a gentleman from Guadalajara (which must, I think, have been in the very late 50’s), my mother had never heard of “enchiladas.”

By the time I was in grade school, my mom occasionally made a very basic taco, a “stacked” enchilada (which, while they tasted more like beefy spaghetti sauce layered with corn tortillas and cheddar cheese, go figure, were still delicious), and a taco salad — differentiated from everyday salad by the addition of seasoned taco meat and Fritos. There was a Mexican restaurant in town, but we didn’t eat out much.

About the time I started junior high, one of my older brothers married a girl from California who introduced us to making homemade salsa (hence “Tammi’s Salsa”), as well as tamales, and chili verde, and all manner of Mexican and Southwest tastiness. They’re still happily married 34 years later — I, personally, credit the great Mexican food! Just kidding. (Or am I?)

We’ve Come a Long Way, Mis Amigos!

These days, my mother can whip up a last minute pan of enchiladas out of just about anything — they’re her go-to casserole — and they’re always delicious. There’s a Mexican place on just about every corner in town, it seems — and we frequent several of them. And probably about 75% of my everyday cooking has some sort of south-of-the-border influence, helped along by my father-in-law’s Santa Fe heritage.

I’ve also branched out in my salsa making. I absolutely love fresh salsa — not just the more traditional salsas, but also Roasted Tomatilla Salsa, Pineapple Salsa, Avocado & Mango Salsa, and even a seasonal Cranberry Salsa Spread.

Mi Salsa es Su Salsa

But no matter how many excellent and exotic salsa recipes I add to my recipe file, like so many pom-poms on a sombrero, my favorite will always be that first, simple pico de gallo recipe that I learned from my sister-in-law so long ago and that we christened, simply, “Tammi’s Salsa.” Provechito!

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