When visiting your favorite Mexican restaurant, you will have the option of different types of sauces and salsas. Our favorite dishes can be enhanced with the right flavor of sauce and/or salsa. Some people will assume that sauce and salsa are the same thing, after the Spanish word for sauce is salsa. However, they are separate in how they are used as well as their texture. To help clarify the difference between salsa and sauce, Eddie’s Mexican Restaurant would like to break down some of the key differences.
Red, Green & Baja Sauce
Both sauce and salsa will used similar ingredients. However, salsa and sauce can be separated by their texture and how they are used. The most common type of sauce used in many Mexican foods is red and green sauce. Red and green sauce have a smooth texture and is used to bring flavor to a number of different Mexican cuisines. Sauces are used inside the dish or as a topping. There is also the spiced baja sauce that brings a different and bold flavor to many Mexican dishes and is used as a topping. Red and Green sauce both use chili peppers in their creation. The color change depends on when the peppers were picked. Less ripened chili peppers are green and more sweet and less hot. The red color occurs after the peppers have finished ripening. Red peppers have a spicier flavor, especially if the seeds are used. A baja sauce is mostly used on seafood based Mexican cuisine such as fish or shrimp. Baja sauce is often made differently, depending on the restaurant, but chili peppers are one of the more common ingredients in baja sauce which helps provide that spicy flavor. One of the primary uses for sauce is inside or as a topping in Mexican cuisine, and they will have a smoother texture which is one of the major differences between sauce and salsa.
What Makes Something a Salsa?
Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce. However salsa is used much differently. Salsa can be smooth or chunky and is used as a dip or topping. There are a lot of different types of salsa. Some of the popular types of salsa are red salsa, green salsa, guacamole salsa and pico de gallo. Each of these salsas use very different ingredients. Pico de gallo uses tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice and peppers. The key to a great pico de gallo is to use fresh ingredients and made to eat. Red salsa can be chunky or smooth and primarily uses tomatoes and peppers. Green salsa is smoother and uses tomatillos along with peppers, onion and cilantro. Guacamole salsa is another smoother salsa and primarily uses avocados along with other peppers and spices. Salsa tastes will vary greatly and many people love using salsas as a dip. However they can also be used for topping and ingredients in many Mexican cuisines.
Authentic Mexican Cuisine in Las Vegas, Nevada (Just Minutes from Summerlin, North LV, Paradise, Lone Mountain & Henderson, NV)
Sauce and salsa are a major part of Mexican dining. When you have a carving for your favorite Mexican food, come on down to Eddie’s Mexican Restaurant today!
