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Pico de gallo

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Pico de gallo

In Mexican cuisine, pico de gallo (Spanish for "rooster's beak"), also called salsa fresca, is a fresh, uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, onion, and sometimes chilis (typically jalapeños or serranos). Other ingredients may also be added, such as lemon or lime juice, fresh cilantro (coriander leaf), cucumber, radish or other fresh firm pulpy fruit such as mango.

Pico de gallo can be used in much the same way as other Mexican salsas, or Indian chutneys, but since it contains less liquid, it can also be used as a main ingredient in dishes such as tacos and fajitas.

In some regions of Mexico, a fruit salad (watermelon, orange, jícama, cucumber and sometimes melon and papaya) tossed in lime juice and hot sauce or chamoy and sprinkled with a salty chili powder is also known as pico de gallo; it is a popular snack and usually sold outside schools, while the tomato-based condiment is better known as salsa picada, which means minced or chopped sauce, salsa bandera or salsa mexicana, because the colors red (tomato), white (onion), and green (chili) are the colors of the Mexican flag.

Etymology

One of the sources for the name "rooster's beak" could be the beak-like shape and the red color of the chilis used to make it. According to food writer Sharon Tyler Herbst,[1] it is so called because originally it was eaten with the thumb and forefinger, and retrieving and eating the condiment resembled the actions of a pecking rooster.

Another suggested etymology is that pico is derived from the verb picar, which has two meanings: 1) to mince or chop, and 2) to bite, sting or peck. The rooster, gallo in Spanish, is a common metaphor for the hyper-masculine ("macho") male in Mexican culture. One example of such machismo is taking pride in withstanding the spicy burn of chilis.

However, neither theory can be considered definite, as they assume the use of hot chilis. In many regions of Mexico the term "pico de gallo" refers to any of a variety of salads, condiments or fillings made with sweet fruits, tomatoes, tomatillos, avocado or mild chilis — not necessarily with hot chilis, or any chilis at all. Thus, the name could be a simple allusion to the bird feed-like minced texture and appearance of the sauce.[2]

Health issues

Main article: Salsa (sauce)

Care should be taken in the preparation and storage of salsa, since many raw-served varieties can act as a growth medium for potentially dangerous bacteria, especially when unrefrigerated.[3]

In 2002, a study appearing in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, conducted by the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, found that 66% of the sauces tested (71 samples tested, sauces being either: salsa, guacamole, or pico de gallo) from restaurants in Guadalajara, Jalisco and 40% of those from Houston, Texas, were contaminated with E. coli bacteria, although only the sauces from Guadalajara contained the types of E. coli that cause diarrhea.[4] The researchers found that the Mexican sauces from Guadalajara contained fecal contaminants and higher levels of the bacteria more frequently than those of the sauces from Houston, possibly as a result of more common improper refrigeration of the Mexican sauces.

In a 2010 July 12 press release the Center for Disease Control reported that during the 1998-to-2008 period, 1 out of 25 foodborne illnesses with identified food sources was traced back to restaurant salsa or guacamole.[5] According to a 2010 July 13 news item by journalist Elizabeth Weise, a 2008 outbreak of Salmonella was traced back to the peppers used in salsa.[6] Originally reported to the CDC by the New Mexico Department of Health, over the course of several months, the outbreak sickened a total of 1,442 people in 43 states and resulted in 286 hospitalizations.[7] Weise reports:

Refrigeration is the key to safe salsa, says Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety, who published a paper on the topic earlier this year.[8] "An unusual finding was if you used fresh garlic and fresh lime juice, it prevented the growth," of bacteria. "You couldn't use powdered, it had to be fresh," he says.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Sharon Tyler Herbst, "Food Lover's Companion", 2nd ed., as quoted in Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995: www.Epicurious.com, retrieved 10/3/2007 [1]
  2. ^ Bayless, Rick & Deann Groen: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico
  3. ^ Larry R. Beuchat. "Surface decontamination of fruits and vegetables eaten raw: a review" (PDF). World Health Organization. Retrieved 2010 July 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Javier A. Adachi, John J. Mathewson, Zhi-Dong Jiang, Charles D. Ericsson, and Herbert L. DuPont. Annals of Internal Medicine, June 2002, Vol. 136, pp. 884–887.
  5. ^ "Salsa and Guacamole Increasingly Important Causes of Foodborne Disease" (HTML). Retrieved 2010 July 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Elizabeth Weise. "CDC: Fresh salsa, guacamole linked to foodborne illnesses - USATODAY.com" (HTML). Retrieved 2010 July 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2008). "Outbreak of Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infections associated with multiple raw produce items--United States, 2008". MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 57 (34): 929–34. PMID 18756191. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Ma L, Zhang G, Gerner-Smidt P, Tauxe RV, Doyle MP (2010). "Survival and growth of Salmonella in salsa and related ingredients". J. Food Prot. 73 (3): 434–44. PMID 20202327. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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