The reality of salsa is much more interesting. Salsas may be stewed, raw, roasted, grilled.
Chile peppers are the defining ingredient, but the type and amount vary wildly.
Tomatoes are usually indicated in traditional Central and South American salsas, but in the wake of fusion cooking and the increased awareness of regional specialties, even this boundary has been blown wide open, making room for such ingredients as corn, tomatillos, mangoes, apples, strawberries, and even sweet potato. In the face of such anarchy, salsa competitions are a natural response, a community's attempt to impose meaning and order on an unruly universe of possibilities. But the pressure is on to assess the entries according to the old rules, the Pace-based paradigm. Too often we elevate one or two of the simpler characteristics to the sole deciding factor and downplay others that are as important, or at least as interesting, to the avid salsa consumer. Such vastly different approaches require almost completely different strategies in order to assess texture and flavor.