[This is not aviation related] Salsa vs. Hot sauce

EdFred said:
Is that two syllables or one? And more importantly, what do Canadians know about spicy food?
Click to expand...
This Canadian knows that hot salsa is nonexistent here. What they call "hot" is what a Texan would call a waste of time. A good homegrown tomato has more bite than "hot" Canadian salsa.

I used to have a bottle of this stuff. Bought it near the Wright Brothers' memorial in 2003. Can't find it anymore. It was hot enough for me, at about 5900 on the Scoville Heat Scale.

upload_2022-6-6_14-23-52.jpeg


Nearest thing to it is this, now:

upload_2022-6-6_14-24-51.png


If it doesn't hurt, it's not hot. And for a lot of Americans, these two aren't hot at all.
 
luvflyin said:
"....In my part of the world "hot sauce" and "salsa" can be used interchangeably...."
Maybe you should move. What color is the sky there?
Click to expand...
I think I'm in the same part of the world as Bryan and we don't call salsa hot sauce here. I don't know, maybe my mom would, it sounds like something she'd say, but she's a Yankee.
 
How many thousands of places down the list of "Things Oklahoma is just plain wrong about" will this ridiculousness land? :D
 
yeah...I'm with Eman here....

I'm not exactly a "hot sauce" or "salsa" or "pico de whatever" expert
and yeah, my world is a bit muddy having moved around a bit and travelled a fair bit in areas including East Tx, Louisiana, and the surrounding areas.... mostly though my world is the SE US...
but I NEVER remember hearing such of a thing.
Hot sauce to me... I picture "tabasco" (even though I really don't like that stuff), or somethin like Siracha, or even some of those things a little bit more viscous like bar-b-q sauce
but if it's got anything big enough to chew in it... that is most certainly NOT what I picture

Hot sauce is an ingredient used to make those other things!
 
EdFred said:
Is that two syllables or one? And more importantly, what do Canadians know about spicy food?
Click to expand...

Well this Canadian is also dual citizenship, Mexican and Canadian, thanks to my father, who was half Mexican, and took me there often. I've probably spent over 100 months of my life in Mexico. ;)
 
EdFred said:
Is that two syllables or one? And more importantly, what do Canadians know about spicy food?
Click to expand...

one. it's the word 'june' with a 'th' at the end. like meth. or tooth. and can't speak for canucks.
 
Whitney said:
Well this Canadian is also dual citizenship, Mexican and Canadian, thanks to my father, who was half Mexican, and took me there often. I've probably spent over 100 months of my life in Mexico. ;)
Click to expand...
That still doesn't answer the question!

Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
 
EdFred said:
Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
Click to expand...

Pretty much.

TexMex adds heat, flavor and lots of melted cheese to traditional Mexican food.
 
eman1200 said:
I had nevereverever heard the term hot sauce used for salsa until I heard u say it. also, I have nevereverever gone to the hot sauce section of a supermarket and seen salsa. does salsa have any form of vinegar in it? all hot sauces I've ever had have been smooth. might have been thick, but mostly smooth, while salsa is chunky and far less blended, if blended at all. any mexican restaurant I've ever been to ask if u want chips and salsa, and bring out, surprisingly, salsa.
Click to expand...
I am not a connoisseur (took 4 tries to get close enough for spellcheck of that stupid word) of hot foods. I consulted with my in house expert, aka wife from South Texas, and she is on team eman in the great is salsa also called hot sauce debate of 2022.
 
fyi imma have some insane hot sauces ready for rough river boyeeeee!
 
Bryan, it's a regional thing - but growing up (as if I did!) here in Dallas, we always called the bowl of stuff you got with the tortilla chips, "hot sauce." "Salsa" was never used until the seventies rolled around, and in those days, if they called it "salsa," you could be pretty much certain that it would have minimal heat.

Mikey B said:
And don't forget, in New Mexico the waitperson will say "red or green," and if you answer "Christmas" you get both.
Click to expand...

...and yet, neither the red, nor the green, will have the faintest satisfying effect on the palate. Bland, bland, bland!

EdFred said:
That still doesn't answer the question!

Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
Click to expand...

Also a regional thing - but (in my experience) generally not the case. If you get comida Mexicana in Baja California Norte, it'll be much like the so-called Mexican food in California: bland and icky.

Down in (say) Quintana Roo or Yucatan, much more heat - including the much loved and occasionally-hated jabanero.
 
Racerx said:
Is this like the Coca-cola thing? Ask for a coke in some parts and you'll get asked "what kind"
Click to expand...

I’ve heard people say this for years, but not once I have I experienced this, and I get to a lot of small southern towns.
 
Coke means soda pop. Now a red coke means Coca Cola. Wanna coke? Sure I’ll take a Dr Pepper. And some chips and salsa. Yea, some hot sauce for my burrito. /thread
 
EdFred said:
That still doesn't answer the question!

Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
Click to expand...

Seems to largely depend on where one eats in Mexico.

Go to say Cabo, its pretty mild overall. Go to Mexico city, and almost all Mexican dishes have some kick to them, unless you eat in a hotel restaurant where they cater mostly to non-Mexicans.
 
EdFred said:
That still doesn't answer the question!

Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
Click to expand...
Spent a summer in Guadalajara (birthplace of mariachi music!) long ago, and as I recall the street tacos were pretty scorchin'. But yeah, Mexican food is very regional, and I can't speak for other parts of the country.
 
@SixPapaCharlie your descriptions of hot sauce and salsa mimic mine. Sauce is basically a thick liquid while salsa is chunky in a liquid base of some kind. Pico is chopped bits in a bowl.

I’ve been to a Mexican restaurant where they blend the salsa and put it in squeeze bottles. Different heat levels too. The owner tells me that’s how they did it back home.
 
Oh, don't get me started on the definition of Chili. There are wide regional differences.
 
Pico is fresh, salsa is cooked. Hot sauce is cooked and blended. Mole is the nectar of the sauce gods.
 
Initial Fix said:
@SixPapaCharlie your descriptions of hot sauce and salsa mimic mine. Sauce is basically a thick liquid while salsa is chunky in a liquid base of some kind. Pico is chopped bits in a bowl.

I’ve been to a Mexican restaurant where they blend the salsa and put it in squeeze bottles. Different heat levels too. The owner tells me that’s how they did it back home.
Click to expand...
Back home in New Jersey?
 
It’s fun to be in Mexico and ask for the “salsa picante” after they’ve already brought me what the tourists think spicy is.

I’ve had more than one kitchen crew watch as the salsa was brought to the table with the Gringo Loco.

That said. Hot Sauce is an American term, and Salsa is a Spanish term for about any kind of product. Mexican Spanish has language to get you what you want.

Choose a language and communicate. Enjoy the outcome.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
@OkieFlyer What say you?
Wonder if it is an Oklahoma thing. We started using the term "hot sauce" when ordering chips and hot sauce at El Chico in Yukon OK as a kid.
Click to expand...

Before mexican food joints started popping up everywhere in the late 90s, we only referred to it as picante sauce. I suppose the reason for that is because Pace was pretty much the only "salsa" on the shelf.
 
EdFred said:
Also isn't traditional Mexican food actually bland, and the spicy stuff is actually an Americanized version of it? It's what I've heard, but haven't verified.
Click to expand...
Not bland at all. At least not where my family is from in Oaxaca. Spicy has many meanings though. Traditional Mexican food has tons of spices in it, most of which are some form of peppers (chilies). Just like pizza, the locals (USA) added a bunch of cheese to it to make it appeal to the (idiots) masses.
 
I have had real Mexican food and have not had anything like it since.

That Taco Bell original beef taco is a classic, though.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Most certainly not an Okie thing. Salsa is salsa. Hot sauce is Tabasco or similar. Salsa may be blended up to be "less chunky", but it's still not hot sauce. If you ask for hot sauce in OK, you're getting Tobasco or Louisiana-style sauce.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:

And I’m in Arizona. I also grew up where they ask, “You want a coke?” “Yes please.” “What kind?” “Dr. Pepper.”
 
Timbeck2 said:
And I’m in Arizona. I also grew up where they ask, “You want a coke?” “Yes please.” “What kind?” “Dr. Pepper.”
Click to expand...

Same thing for me growing up in sorta south eastern Texas.

Unless a person wanted a Nehi Grape. Then just ask for a Nehi. Growing up in the 60s I thought purple tongues was normal for kids...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top