 In Spanish or Italian, salsa can refer to any type of sauce, but in English it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato-based sauces typical of Mexican cuisine, particularly those used as dips. Salsa is the Spanish and Italian word for sauce, from Latin salsa "salty", from sal, "salt"; "saline" and "salad" are related words.
Mexican salsas were traditionally produced using the mortar and pestle-like molcajete, although blenders are now more commonly used. Well-known salsas include:
* Salsa roja, "red sauce": used as a condiment in Mexican and southwestern U.S. cuisine, and usually made with cooked tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro (coriander leaves).
* Salsa cruda ("raw sauce"), also known as pico de gallo ("cock's beak"), salsa mexicana ("Mexican sauce") or salsa fresca ("fresh sauce"): made with raw tomatoes, lime juice, chilli peppers, onions, cilantro leaves, and other coarsely chopped raw ingredients.
* Salsa verde, "green sauce": Mexican version made with tomatillos. Sauces made with tomatillos are usually cooked. Italian version made with herbs.
* Salsa taquera, "Taco sauce": Made with tomatillos and morita chili.
* Salsa ranchera, "ranch-style sauce": made with tomatoes, various chilies, and spices.
* Salsa brava, "wild sauce": usually made of a mayonnaise-Tabasco mix. On top of potato wedges, it makes the dish patatas bravas, typical of tapas bars in Catalonia.
* Guacamole: usually any sauce where the main ingredient is avocado.
* Mole (pronounced MOE-lay): a Mexican sauce made from chili peppers mixed with spices, unsweetened chocolate, almonds, and other ingredients.
There are many other salsas, both traditional and nouveau: for instance, some are made with mint, pineapple, or mango. Salsa reputedly became popular in the United States during World War II due to rationing which made ketchup hard to produce.
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