Picante. And don’t pretend you didn’t know what we were talking about.
To expound upon my comment (and possibly hijack this thread), I have a cilantro horror story.
A few days ago, my girlfriend and I went to an “authentic” Mexican restaraunt. That’s the way they bill themselves, and the staff appears to consist of authentic mexicans, so I took them at their word.
My review:
Flavor: Excellent, except for the cilantro. (See below.)
Heat: None.
Therefore, I can absolutely, emphatically not reccommend the place.
My principle complaint actually involves the lack of peppers. A few habaneros would have provided the “kick” which is necessary in a real chimichanga. The only thing remotely spicy in the whole mead was one (1) of the three dipping sauces provided with the tortilla chips in the same way that bread and olive oil are provided in an Italian joint. The other two were composed primarily of cilantro, which leads me to my next point.
The mystifying lack of capsacin-based goodness in my meal was “compensated” for with boatloads of cilantro. It overpowed everything. I realize that a small quantity of cilantro is necessary, but it is simply not an acceptable substitute for peppers.
I went into a sneezing jag about halfway through dinner which was both cilantro based and embarrasing. Bastards.
So yes. Salsa Picante* whenever you can get it. If it ain’t hot enough, toss in some Franks, even though cayenne doesn’t really belong in picante.
Crap. I forgot to thank quietman1920 for the Kleenex.
Even the thought of cilantro makes me sneeze. Like Duke of Rat says, it has to be there, but if it actually intrudes itself (or I start sneezing) it’s too much.
I did like that place. I’m going to go back and request just a pinch of cilantro and heavy on the peppers.
Salsa is better than the sunrise.
Salsa is not as good as the sun emerging from the clouds after a spring rain.
I just find it a little amusing that many gringos use the word salsa when referring to a specific hot sauce (with slight variations). The word isn’t limited to salsas picantes. It literally means sauce.
Hey, I apologize too. That “Happy?” crack wasn’t called for.
You might also notice that I didn’t accent the word, either. My machine is set up for American English, so I have to go through a bunch of machinations to get that slanty thing over th “e.”
I really don’t speak much Spanish, either. Since I live so close to Quebec, I really ought to work on French.
If I ever get into professional wrestling, my ring name will be, “Salsa Cilantro.”
Salsa is better than a sharp stick in your eye. Salsa is not better than a cure for leprosy.
And I must admit, I am a complete wimp when it comes to Salsa del Picante. (I took French in college) It must be exceedingly mild, or else my sinuses spontaneously combust.
If you chose to make your own salsa, do it when someone or something has made you VERY angry. Like incredible Hulk angry. In my family, we say that is when the most heat gets infused into the salsa.
Holy cow! I’m astounded that i did not think of this when I just posted before!!
I went to a Mexican restaurant today with my mother. As is typical at Mexican restaurants, they brought us bowls of chips and salsa.
As is also typical, the salsa they borught us was made from loads of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cilantro… with very little chile content. So I tried the bottle of hot sauce that was on the table. It was hotter, but not by too much. Something like Toxic Belch (Taco Bell)'s “hot” sauce.
This wasn’t good enough since I like hot salsas, so I went up to the chip-bar and asked for some hot salsa. When I got back, i found that it was the same stuff as was on the table already.
Shortly afterwards, our waitress came by and noticed that I had a small bowl of that same salsa, and asked if the bottle on the table was no good. I told her that I had wanted hotter salsa than was brought with our chips. She left and came back with a small bowl of a thick orange substance.
I knew at once, and she confirmed it, that I had gotten my wish, because she had come back with habanero salsa. From the look of it, it was nothing but habaneros–maybe a bit of vinegar, but I could not taste it.
I had sweat running down my temples for 10 minutes after we left the restaurant.
Just curious, Exgineer: Was this place in Albany? I lived there for most of my life, and never saw much “authentic” Mexican cuisine. The closest was probably Garcia’s in Latham.
