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| Sauces | Mexican Cuisine | Tex-Mex cuisine

Pico de Gallo has two meanings in Mexican cuisine. The most familiar to North Americans is a fresh, tomato-based salad. It is what North Americans usually mean when talking about "ensalada" or "tomato ensalada." This ensalada is never cooked.

The second meaning, more common in some regions of Mexico, is a spice mixture including salt and dried chiles which is served, often with lime juice, over fresh fruit. If you are unfamiliar with the regional origin of a recipe involving pico de gallo, context may be the only way to determine which meaning is intended, though for US-Mex dishes the "uncooked salsa" meaning will almost always be correct.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped fresh tomato
• ½ cup chopped white or yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed Lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoons stemmed, seeded, and minced jalapeño or other chiles
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• hot sauce, to taste

Procedure

1. Wash the vegetables and cilantro.
2. Dice the vegetables.
3. Combine them, mixing well.
4. Add salt, pepper, chiles, lime juice, and garlic.
5. Add hot sauce if desired.
6. Let stand 30 minutes to allow ingredients to mesh.