Thursday, February 8, 2007

Almond and Parsley “Salsa Verde” – It’s easy being green!


As you watch me make this delicious and versatile condiment, you might be thinking to yourself, wait a minute, that’s a pesto. Well, it basically is. The reason I’m calling it a “salsa verde” and not a pesto, is because whenever you say “pesto” people instantly think of the traditional (and DONE TO DEATH) version with the pinenuts and basil. Now, I have no problem with a nice, properly made pesto. But, I was in the mood for something completely different. By the way, there’s nothing I hate more than Chefs arguing terms and names… “That’s NOT a Confit, it’s a Compote!!” or “That’s not a marinade you idiot, it’s a wet rub!” …Every professional chef or cook reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve heard my rule before; if you make it, you get to name it! For example, my Salmon Mango Bango, ridiculous name, but no one can do a damn thing about it.

So, I’m using the term “Salsa Verde” the way it’s used around Northern California. It’s a very generic term for any fresh green sauce, usually starring some type of herb, but also can be made with spinach, arugula, etc. If you are a regular to this site you’ll see me do many versions of salsa verde, especially when the weather gets a bit warmer. (to combat Christmas shopping stress I want you all to close your eyes and for one minute picture a warm, sunny meadow, lush with fresh herbs) ahhhh, that’s better.

This is a great sauce to experiment with by switching out the nuts, herbs and oils used. Hopefully you saw the Piquillo Pepper video, which this sauce was amazing on. I also had the left-overs on a piece of seared salmon which was sublime.


3 comments:

LILIAN said...

HELLO!i live in LAS ISLAS CANARIAS(canary islands,spain,) and we are the "owners" fo the "salsa verde",but we call it "MOJO",THAT MEANS, FOR US, "SALSA",WHEN ITS MADE WITH CORIANDER,"CILANTRO"(SIMILAR TO PARSLEY,BUT EVEN BETTER!!).

WE MIX GARLIC, CILANTRO,SALT,VINNEGAR, GOOD AND PURE SPANISH OLIVE OIL(THE BEST IN EUROPE),COMINO(SORRY,I DONT KNOW THE WORD IN ENGLISH),BLEND IT WITH YOUR MIXER.
YOU CAN USE IT POURING IT OVER FRIED FISH AND POTATOES.I RECOMEND YOU THIS RECIPE,LOOK FOR IT IN "COMIDA CANARIA",OR "RECETA DEL MOJO DE CILANTRO DE TENERIFE".

BY THE WAY, I LOVE YOUR ONION RINGS!!JEJEJE.LOVE, FROM SPAIN.

LILIAN said...

OK, "COMINO" IS CUMIN,ISNT IT??

TRY THE MOJO DE CILANTRO DE LA ISLA DE TENERIFE(YOU HAVE TO PRONOUNCE IT :"MO-HO")

Chef John said...

Yes, thanks! (btw, you can turn off the all caps anytime :-)