But anyone who knows Mexican cuisine knows salsa is much more than a chip dip made with tomatoes, chiles and onions. In musical terms, salsas can raise the tempo of any food, speed up its flavors and beat, and give it soul. In culinary terms, the music is tantalizing and spicy. Americans clearly have caught the salsa beat. Now noted chefs, authors and restaurant owners are capitalizing on the salsa craze.
Salsa can be anything from a condiment to a sauce to what people typically think of as salsa.
She advises chefs and restaurateurs to experiment with salsa recipes, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients. It's a high priority. Creative Mexican and Southwestern recipes are Curtis' forte. And she and her staff have some favorites in the salsa category that are ideal for restaurant kitchens, the Grilled Nopal and Poblano Chile Salsa and the Tropical Fruit Salsa among them. Curtis says of the salsa the school's chef and instructor David Jones created with cactus paddles, poblanos, garlic, cilantro and cumin.