Pico de Gallo Bet

[captnpat1982]

Please help solve a bet the wife and I have going. We enjoy the Pico de Gallo at Playa Corona.

When we make it at home, it just doesn't taste the same.

We are using:

• Tomato
• White onion
• Cilantro
• Fresh Lime.

No Jalapenos for us is why it tastes so good. Or maybe it is the Sol and Hornitos?

I think its Missing the Saltwater and Sand?

The Bet: I say they use Roma Tomatoes, she says any tomato will do.

Can you help us settle this bet?

 

[Skittl1321]

Tomato type makes a difference in my opinion.

All the the other factors named probably help too.

 

[El Graduado]

It's not just the tomato, although I agree with Skittl1321; romas are far better for sauces and relishes than most others. I think it's the Mexican lime Zovek is using. It is very different than those you are probably using in the states. Try using a "key lime" and see if you taste the difference.

Maybe I should include a taste test of various salsas in my Culinary Scavenger Hunt? Remember the xnipek they always used to put on the tables here?

 

[morecowbells]

Pico without the jalapeno is like popcorn without salt or pasta without garlic I like to use lots of jalapeno peppers cut in half lengthwise while scraping the yellow(hot) flesh and some seeds out with a grapefruit spoon. As long as the tomatoes are homegrown and not the gnarly hydroponic grown ones, I cannot tell a vast difference between roma and regular. I squeeze out the tomato seeds, dice and throw some sea salt or kosher salt on them then proceed to the other ingredients. The type of salt makes a big difference.:drooling:

 

[Pelagicsal]

Jalepeño? Perish the thought. Much tastier with habanero...

Tell me more about xnipek, please. A quick search didn't find much differentiation from pico de gallo.

 

[DjDiverDan]

MoreCowbells is right on the tomatoes - squeeze out the seeds and the gelatinous pulp before dicing the tomatoes, regardless of type. The seeds and gelatinous pulp are bitter, and will change the flavor of your salsa. Romas are considered better because they have less liquid and bitter pulp, but if you get that stuff out (I use a grapefruit spoon), you probably won't notice the difference. He's also right about the jalapenos - if you don't like the heat, get rid of the seeds and veins, but you just can't have good Pico de Gallo without the fruitiness of some jalapeno.

 

[Skittl1321]

I think quality of all the produce is real important. I've never had a banana in the US as good as the ones mexico. It might be impossible to reproduce from the grocery store. Even if you grow it all yourself, soil conditions may vary.

 

[El Graduado]

Jalepeño? Perish the thought. Much tastier with habanero...

Tell me more about xnipek, please.

Back in the day, no table in Cozumel would be considered dressed without a little bowl of xnipek. The main difference between it and today's namby-pamby pico de gallo is that it was LOADED with habanero and you made it with naranja agria (bitter orange) instead of limon (lime). The hefty portion of orange-colored habanero pieces in xnipek looked like bits of tomato to tourists, who would often pile it on their plate before biting into it and finding out it was nothing like pico de gallo from Taco Bell. With a flushed face, tears running down their cheeks and their nose running, the poor tourist would understand where the name came from; xnipek means "dog's nose" in Mayan, derived from the fact the dog's nose is always wet.

The other ubiquitous table-topper back then was a jar of instant coffee.

 

[mstevens]

Xni-pec is usually just habanero and bitter orange juice with salt, isn't it?

The tomatoes make a difference. Regular "garden" tomatoes are too watery. As Ric pointed out, the lime makes a difference as well.

I would be absolutely gobsmacked if Playa Corona's pico de gallo doesn't include SOME chile. Even if you don't like spicy, consider that chiles have strong fruit flavors under the "heat". We'll sometimes slice, seed, and de-vein a habanero and put it in things we're preparing for people who hate spicy food then remove it before serving. If you get the amounts and sitting time right, it contributes a surprisingly small amount of spiciness (on par with black pepper) and a surprisingly large amount of flavor that non-chileheads usually can't identify. A Jalapeño or serrano will do the same, but with less fruitiness.

Don't forget that you're probably having the salsa on totopos that you likely can't easily get in the US.

Fundamentally, though, I believe the primary difference is that the same thing really does taste different on the beach from how it does in the kitchen back home with piles of snow outside. Some of that is physiological (humidity, sun angle, ambient temperature) and some psychological (being served, being away from home, the company and conversation, expectations, etc.).

Edit: I was writing this while Ric was posting. Not disagreeing at all with his description of Xni-pec.

 

[Skittl1321]

The hefty portion of orange-colored habanero pieces in xnipek looked like bits of tomato to tourists, who would often pile it on their plate before biting into it and finding out it was nothing like pico de gallo from Taco Bell. With a flushed face, tears running down their cheeks and their nose running, the poor tourist would understand where the name came from; xnipek means "dog's nose" in Mayan, derived from the fact the dog's nose is always wet.

I wonder if this was the pico de gallo we ate in Uxmal. Our guides warned the group heavily to NOT eat it; it is way too hot, it isn't for tourists, you won't like it, etc. We thought it was fabulous. But I love habanero. (Incidentally so does my dog. She likes bell peppers, and one time I was slicing habeneros for salsa, and she started begging for one. We thought -no way- but I gave her a tiny piece, which she gobbled down and asked for more. I try not to feed her too much people food so her habanero consumption is limited.)