Salsa de Chile Macho

Salsa made from dried chiles and topped with crumbled cotija

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City/Region: Mexico

Time Period: 1831

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Unlike previous cookbooks on Mexican food where salsa was very much a European-style sauce made without chiles, El Cocinero Mexicano, published in 1831, was very consciously breaking away from Spanish cooking traditions, as Mexico had won its independence from Spain 10 years before. In it are many recipes for salsa that we would recognize today, made with ingredients like tomatoes, chiles, garlic, avocado, and onion (cilantro, large bulb onion, and garlic were introduced by Europeans, making post-Spanish colonization salsas quite different from Aztec salsa). 

While different from the typical salsa you’ll get at a Mexican restaurant, this is delicious and smoky, and I could eat a whole bowl. Tortilla chips came about after Europeans brought over livestock like cows and pigs, introducing a good source of fat for frying, so dig in with your favorite.

“Salsa De Chile macho
Toast ancho chile and one-third as much pasilla chile. Remove the veins and crush them, adding a little pulque, garlic, and some seeds from the chiles themselves. Once thoroughly pounded, mix with chopped raw onion, a little more pulque, cooking oil, and crumbled aged cheese.”

— El Cocinero Mexicano, 1831

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Ingredients:

• 150 g ancho chile
• 50 g pasilla chile
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 white onion, minced
• 1 cup (235 ml) pulque*, less as needed
• Salt, to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Cotija or other crumbly aged cheese, to taste

*Pulque is a fermented beverage made from agave. It can be difficult to find, so substitute with a sour beer or kombucha if you can’t find it.

Instructions:

1. Cut off the tops of the chiles and remove the seeds, saving them for later.
2. Heat a pan over high heat, then toast the chiles, being careful to not burn them.
3. Place the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover them with water. Let them soak for 20 minutes.
4. Drain the chiles and chop them finely. The smaller the pieces, the easier it will be to grind them up.
5. If you have a new molcajete, check the notes below for instructions on how to season it before you use it. Place the chopped chiles in the molcajete and grind them up. You can also do this in a food processor.
6. Once the chiles have turned into a paste, add the garlic, some of the chile seeds, and some of the onion. Grind them into the chiles, then add a large pinch of salt, a splash of the pulque, some of the oil, and as much of the onion as you want (this addition of onion will stay in pieces instead of being ground up). Stir this all together. Add more pulque, oil, and onion as you like. Crumble up some of the cotija cheese and stir it in. Taste and add more salt or any of the other ingredients as you like.
7. Crumble some more cotija on top of the salsa and serve it forth with chips.

Notes

• To season a new molcajete before you use it, put some dry rice and a little salt in the molcajete and grind it in so that the rice and salt fills in all the little holes. Rub some garlic or onion over it, then let it dry before using.

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