pico de gallo and salsa are two different things.

I have a ton of cook books but lately I just go to Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides, read the reviews.
Also anything by Dianne Kennedy for Mexican food is excellent.

Apparently, using fresh lime juice and fresh garlic in your salsa fresca (or pico de gallo, another term for it) retards or prevents contamination with salmonella, E. coli, etc, which can be a problem with restaurant salsa fresca.

I only make the salsa fresca. I like cooked salsa too, but don't make it. I'd like to make salsa verde, though.

+2 keep it simple and don't cook it down. The above is basically what I've been doing for years with a few exceptions: I use sweet onions. I do not use Cumin. I use Habenero instead of Jalapenos. Add some garlic, Kosher salt and a dash of pepper. I can't give exact amounts as I eyeball everything when I make mine. Throw everything into a food processor for a few pulses for a rough chop. Good stuff!

you put your left foot forward
you put your left foot back
now put your right foot forward
and your right foot back again

repeat.


It works better if you drink enough rum first.