Often called "salsa" in the Northeast USA where we live, Pico de Gallo is not just a "sauce" but more like the Italian tomato mixture that tops bruschetta. To make a perfect Pico, you need only a few ingredients, but they must be top quality. If you can get them from your own garden, you will never leave the kitchen until you've eaten it all. A basic Pico is onion and tomato with smaller amounts of fresh chile and lime, all bound together with some fresh cilantro and salt. Many people will add more ingredients, and we invite you to do just that, but please make this perfect six-ingredient Pico first, chill it a bit, and taste it on some warm salted corn tortilla chips. It should taste exceedingly fresh, hot like summer itself, cool like a summer's evening, sweet like a summer's morning, and acerbically bright like the Orion star Rigel. It is something, once mastered, that will never be forgotten. Remember, the best dishes we make in our lives are also the simplest, with the freshest and finest ingredients.
A note on fresh hot peppers: it is generally acknowledged that the smaller the pepper, the hotter, and the greener, the hotter, and that the seeds contain much of the heat. As a pepper ripens on the plant it becomes deep red (or purple) throughout and also becomes sweeter. Peppers are well worth growing yourself if you have sufficient sunshine to get them to ripen. My favorites are Serrano peppers that have ripened very well, and I leave the seeds in, but you can remove them easily.
One onion, small dice
Two tomatoes, small-to-medium dice
One lime, room temperature, juiced well with a reamer
One or two Jalapeno or Serrano peppers, tiny diced (as a brunoise)
Two Tbsp (20 mL) minced cilantro
Fine Sea Salt to taste, or other non-iodized salt
Mix all ingredients in a colorful bowl. Serve with toasted slices of bread or warmed crispy salted corn totilla chips. Think about how you would change this recipe to add (not subtract!) ingredients you love. Post a reply.
