Sauce vs Salsa

[AlabamaJack]

I made some salsa this morning fresh from garden peppers and tomatoes...store bought onion, cilantro mix, garlic powder, and sea salt....was wondering???? If I cook this down, can I make a hot sauce out of it?...and if I could, what would I have to do to make it?...never made any hot sauce to bottle before...

The peppers I used:
4 Orange Habs
4 Red Savina
6 Criolla Sella
1 Jalapeno (all I had)
10 Serrano
6 Aji Lemon
3 Orange Thai
2 Cayenne

Here is a picture of the ingredients I used...

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk136/AlabamaJack/072008b002.jpg

any advice would be greatly appreciatred...

[JayT]

I made some salsa this morning fresh from garden peppers and tomatoes...store bought onion, cilantro mix, garlic powder, and sea salt....was wondering???? If I cook this down, can I make a hot sauce out of it?...and if I could, what would I have to do to make it?...never made any hot sauce to bottle before...

The peppers I used:
4 Orange Habs
4 Red Savina
6 Criolla Sella
1 Jalapeno (all I had)
10 Serrano
6 Aji Lemon
3 Orange Thai
2 Cayenne

Here is a picture of the ingredients I used...

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk136/AlabamaJack/072008b002.jpg

any advice would be greatly appreciatred...

I would think you would need some vinegar and/or lime juice to get it to the right PH and maybe a little salt and maybe some sugar to balance it out. Bet that will taste good.

[thehotpepper.com]

Lose some of the tomatoes, add an acid, maybe another unique ingredient, cook it up. You'll get the hang of it.

[POTAWIE]

Lose the Canada dry too:lol:

[chilehunter]

Lose the Canada dry too:lol:

ditto :lol:

& get rid of most of those tomatoes, except 1 small 1. & half of the onion at most. since you're dealing with those small ammount of chiles.

IMO tomatoes have no place in hot sauce, but thats me.

or better yet freeze those chiles until you have more to make a good batch of hot sauce.

[chuk hell]

I don't agree with the "loose the tomatoes" comments. IF those are fresh homegrown tomatoes they will make some GREAT salsa.

Use fresh garlic and lime juice.

[thehotpepper.com]

I don't agree with the "loose the tomatoes" comments. IF those are fresh homegrown tomatoes they will make some GREAT salsa.

Use fresh garlic and lime juice.
Yeah, but he ain't makin' salsa ;)

[AlabamaJack]

Thanks for the input all...the salsa is good but after doing a bit of reading I can see many threads concerning sauce making...

The wife is going to be gone next weekend so it will be a good time for me to make my first sauce...no tomatos...

As far as the Canada Dry goes...I like it better than the standard coke/pepsi and it is good with a little lemon and vodka...

[POTAWIE]

Even better with some rye:)
I've made some great tomato based hot-sauces, but for me it works best with smoked peppers/toms

[Chiliac]

Seconded, tomatoes and smoked peppers are a perfect match!!! I am making a tomatoe based pasta sauce while I am typing this and since I don't have any smoked peppers atm, I am adding plenty of Pimento de la vera to add the smoky aroma.

[Sickmont]

it is good with a little lemon and vodka...

Word up, AJ!

[andres]

I disagree with the tomatoes and hot sauce. As long as the tomato is not the main ingredient they go pretty well together and the tomatoes give it a nice body sweetness. It is mainly a question of personal preferences.

[Pepper Ridge Farm]

I like very little tomatoes in my sauce, so little that you wouldn't even know any where used. It is all trial and error until you find the right combination of flavor, consistency, and heat all in one woozie. Just because you tell somebody how you made your sauce doesn't mean they can reproduce, everybody cooks a little differently. Use your chiles in it.

[andres]

Totally agree with you on that one. It also depends on the sauce you make. For example if I make a BBQ hot sauce, I definitely will use tomatoes as my base. But for a more caribbean sauce I definitely will stay away from tomatoes.

[Hotpeppa]

whats the differance with a salsa and a hot sauce ?

[bentalphanerd]

yeah less toms...what your probably looking for is just to add a unique flavor & pourability to the peppers, so they're your main thing.

By the time you blend the chilli (with just enough lime or vinegar to make it blend) theres not a lot of sauce so add onion, other flavors & then enough tom to make it pourable.

Way to check on that is to add 1 too many toms (if you want to put it through a sieve to remove the seeds now is the time) then simmer until you scoop it from the cooking pot and can run the sauce over itself in a thin layer {that bit is really hard to explain}.

Check the pH but if you added the vinegar/juice right at the start its going to be about 4...get it under 4 & you're on a winner.

Bottle & then wait a week...then you know if it worked.

thanks to Hunter S. for the writing style lol

[chuk hell]

whats the differance with a salsa and a hot sauce ?

Well, opinions vary but to me....

A "salsa" is made with fresh ingredients and is chunky and mainly meant for dipping tortilla chips in.

A "hot sauce" is cooked a bit and generally more of a "liquidly" consistency.

...but that's just me.

[thehotpepper.com]

whats the differance with a salsa and a hot sauce ?
Salsa is Spanish for sauce. Americans shortened "salsa picante". I had a friend once that bought a can of Goya Tomato Salsa, and he said "this isn't spicy!" lol. I told him it was tomato sauce. But salsa to Americans is the chip dip stuff, and sauce is the pour on stuff. What Chuk said, but salsas can also be smooth, which I like better than chunky.

[AlabamaJack]

Agree with what Chuck and THP said...I blend my salsa pretty much to make it "non-chunky"...blend peppers/cilantro/fresh garlic first and blend, then add onion & blend, then add tomato and blend...isn't real smooth but not chunky either...matter of fact, I am going to make some now to take to work with me today...

Thanks for the sauce tip Bent...I will be trying to make some within the next week or so...

[thehotpepper.com]

Agree with what Chuck and THP said...I blend my salsa pretty much to make it "non-chunky"...blend peppers/cilantro/fresh garlic first and blend, then add onion & blend, then add tomato and blend...isn't real smooth but not chunky either...matter of fact, I am going to make some now to take to work with me today...

Thanks for the sauce tip Bent...I will be trying to make some within the next week or so...
Yeah, I definitely like blended a lot better than diced.

[Sickmont]

Yeah, I definitely like blended a lot better than diced.

I agree. If it's diced, then it had better be pico de gallo, not salsa.

[AlabamaJack]

I agree. If it's diced, then it had better be pico de gallo, not salsa.

Exactly

[andres]

Well... I know in the states you call that salsa. I just want to clarify some things. As far as I know, we have the following things in my country:

1. American Salsa or Gringo Salsa: Chunky, slightly cooked sauce with pieces of tomatoes, vegetables and herbs.

2. Pico de Gallo: Raw tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime and other stuff depending on who you ask.

3. Salsa Picante (Hot Sauce): Cooked, blended sauce using different ingredients.

4. Chirmol: Charbroiled tomatoes with skin, cilantro, lime, onions, garlic. Al of this muddled in a mortar to get a sauce with some consistency

5. Recado: Diced tomatoes, sweet pepper (or hot peppers), diced onions, garlic and a bit of broth to make a thick sauce.

[Sickmont]

Well... I know in the states you call that salsa. I just want to clarify some things. As far as I know, we have the following things in my country:

1. American Salsa or Gringo Salsa: Chunky, slightly cooked sauce with pieces of tomatoes, vegetables and herbs.

2. Pico de Gallo: Raw tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime and other stuff depending on who you ask.

3. Salsa Picante (Hot Sauce): Cooked, blended sauce using different ingredients.

4. Chirmol: Charbroiled tomatoes with skin, cilantro, lime, onions, garlic. Al of this muddled in a mortar to get a sauce with some consistency

5. Recado: Diced tomatoes, sweet pepper (or hot peppers), diced onions, garlic and a bit of broth to make a thick sauce.

Mmmmmmm....number 4 sounds good. Well, they're all good, but i can't say for sure i've had Chirmol.

[andres]

Oh yeah... chirmol is by far the best. It's the charbroiled tomatoes. Of course you can make these all with miltomates (tomatillos)

[talas]

Chirmol: Charbroiled tomatoes with skin, cilantro, lime, onions, garlic. Al of this muddled in a mortar to get a sauce with some consistency

It does sound delicious Andres and you use tomatillos id really like to try that beats gringo salsa im sure :)

[andres]

Hahaha... no offense to my gringo friends. I do not use gringo in a disparaging way.

But it is delicious. We use chirmol mainly to go with carne asada. So good it's making me hungry

[talas]

I think Picture are needed in the future Andres..then we can all drool :lol:

[andres]

Will do so...

[QuadShotz]

IMO, Salsa is usually diced or chopped and uncooked except by the action of the acids (i.e. lemon juice) in it. Sauce can be either cooked or not, but is at least a puree if not actual liquid.

Here's some links for ya:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salsa_(sauce)

Unlike fresh salsa cruda, these commercial jarred, canned, and bottled salsas typically have a semi-liquid texture more akin to that of canned tomatoes, and often resemble chunky commercial spaghetti sauces. So-called "chunky salsa" appears to currently be the most popular form of jarred salsa. More expensive brands tend to have more chunks of vegetables in them. Blended salsas such as Xerarch's Nice N' Hot Salsa have gained popularity due to their less watery consistancy and full flavor "chipability".

While some salsa fans decry these products as not real salsa cruda, their widespread availability and long shelf life are credited with much of salsa's enormous popularity in states outside of the southwest, especially in places where salsa is not a traditional part of the cuisine.




By: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/historyofsalsa.htm

History of Salsa
The word "salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce. The salsas many of us think of are salsa frescas or salsa cruda, fresh sauces served as a condiment aside a Mexican meal. These uncooked sauces might be pureed until smooth, semi-chunky, or the uniformly chopped pico de gallo.


-QS

[Hotpeppa]

so, i took
7 jamacian hots,
5 Serrano's,
1 whole large onion
1 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup of kidney beans
1/4 cup of celery
2 Big sweet red Bell Peppers
1 chicken cube
1 veggie cube
1 large can of tomatoes
1 freshly squeezed lime
a little salt / italian seasoning

so this was my first attempt at making anykind of hot sauce / salsa.
i blended them all together after cooking all the ingredients up...

it wasnt bad... i actually loved it... i was very happy with it... i knowit may sound like a wierd recipe but i just kinda winged it to be honest...

it was sweet, and had a really nice creeping heat to it that even made me sweat..lol

now what would you call that ?

a salsa or hot sauce ?

it was smooth and well blended...a little on the thick side..how would i make it thinner ? what would i add to it ?

[QuadShotz]

it was smooth and well blended...a little on the thick side..how would i make it thinner ? what would i add to it ?

I'd axe the beans personally... :)

[Hotpeppa]

oh nevermind... i just finished reading the rest of the thread...

i cant believe i didnt know that.... salsa in spanish is sauce....

and i'm italian, ha ha ha...

its a little confusing when people say i am making a salsa then say i am making a sauce... they are the same thing really, just some are cooked and blended and some are uncooked mainly for dipping chips into..

i can see clearly now... many thanks to all who replied...

[Hotpeppa]

i think i will next time... i think they made the sauce a little thick... but it really was nice !

[thehotpepper.com]

so, i took
7 jamacian hots,
5 Serrano's,
1 whole large onion
1 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup of kidney beans
1/4 cup of celery
2 Big sweet red Bell Peppers
1 chicken cube
1 veggie cube
1 large can of tomatoes
1 freshly squeezed lime
a little salt / italian seasoning

so this was my first attempt at making anykind of hot sauce / salsa.
i blended them all together after cooking all the ingredients up...

it wasnt bad... i actually loved it... i was very happy with it... i knowit may sound like a wierd recipe but i just kinda winged it to be honest...

it was sweet, and had a really nice creeping heat to it that even made me sweat..lol

now what would you call that ?

a salsa or hot sauce ?

it was smooth and well blended...a little on the thick side..how would i make it thinner ? what would i add to it ?
Holy crap a cup of sugar!!!! There's your thickness problem, it must have been like maple syrup.

[Hotpeppa]

ha ha ha

it wasnt that bad for sweetness...

i'm only estimating, i didnt really measure it...

you know, a little of this and a little of that...ha ha ha

could of been less.. maybe 1/2 cup...

[Hotpeppa]

its a sauce but just on the thick side... kinda like a spread.. i have seen them just as thick before but a little thinner would of been nice..

[Hotpeppa]

care for a bottle THP ?

ha ha ha

i didnt think so...lmao

[thehotpepper.com]

Keep at it. If you liked it it just needs tweaking.

[Hotpeppa]

yeah, im going to mess around with a few different ideas i have...thanks

and if i come up with a really amazing one, will you give it a whirl ?

[thehotpepper.com]

klyth does the reviews but I may try it too if you want. You'll have to study up on safe canning.

[Hotpeppa]

oh yes, in the process of all that stuff now..

hmmm i was just reading the hot pepper awards rules..

if i made a batch of sauce in a commercial kitchen and followed all the other rules regarding ingredients as well as getting my own web page up simply listing my product ( even if its only one product ) for sale and followed all the packaging rules with proper labels on them, would that be enough ?.. there was a note of mass production... how big of a production is a mass production ? 25 bottles + 50 bottles + 100 bottles + ?

[thehotpepper.com]

If it follows the posted rules it is enterable.