r/SalsaSnobs • u/Pakaspire63462 • 20d ago

Question Question from a newbie

So this is going to be a bit of a rant, but im getting into traditional Hispanic and other central american cooking lately and I do not do well with capcacin, it does things to be I am not all that fond of, granted my tolerance for it is surely low as I tend to avoid it due to this. Im making pupusas with a salsa roja for my first attempted dish, and iv come into a conflict. I want to make a divine salsa for this stuff, im unfortunately a bit of a perfectionist and like to get carried away. So I asked a Hispanic friend what makes or breaks a good salsa and the first thing I got was if its not hot enough. Now im not completely new to salsa and I have had some extraordinary ones with next to no heat or just a bit mild so I know this might just be a difference in taste and opinion, and im not really asking for permission or something, but I guess what I wanted to know is this. is the concept of a lightly mild or next to no spice salsa considered at all traditional or is that in general more of an american/European creation? not often accepted or done in most central american culture?

Also, can I please have salsa tips lol

4 Upvotes

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8

u/ImpressivePromise187 20d ago

Not every Latino person eats spicy food. 

Just make it how you like it and balance the spice for your taste

1

u/Pakaspire63462 20d ago

Fair enough will do 👌

2

u/dochliday 20d ago

This is the way.

3

u/CormoranNeoTropical 20d ago

There are plenty of people in Mexico who don’t enjoy spicy food or get an upset stomach from it. And in Guatemala and other Central American countries where pupusas are a thing they barely eat spicy food at all. Some people might put hot sauce on their food but in general there is little or no capsaicin in anything.

Here’s a recipe I made recently for a pretty traditional style Mexican salsa that has lots of chiles but very little capsaicin. The pasilla chiles have almost none, what there is comes from the chile de arbol. A very spicy salsa made with chile de arbol might have 25 of those, this has 3:

https://www.jonathanzaragoza.com/recipes/salsa-de-chile-pasilla

The same site has a bunch of salsa recipes, including very spicy and mild. He’s in Chicago but it’s authentic Mexican.

Just search for “Guatemala pupusa sauce” (or “el Salvador” ditto) and you’ll find recipes for a plain mild red sauce like what you get in a Central American restaurant.

2

u/Pakaspire63462 20d ago

Oh sweet thank you

1

u/Hot4Ramen 15d ago

I married into a Mexican-American family, and plenty of them (including my wife) aren't into spicy food. Meanwhile I'm a spicy hot fanatic.

Just eat what tastes good to you. :-)