I don’t eat much onion. In fact, as a rule, I remove it from everything from burgers to salad.
I don’t enjoy the taste although I do like the crunch. But, what I really don’t like is the aftertaste for days that comes along with it.
This is a sad thing for my husband who loves onion and garlic and all things stinky but delicious. If he eats it, I can’t kiss him for a few days without gagging. Not really a good thing for intimacy.
But I love Pico de Gallo. LOVE. It’s half chopped onion but I don’t care.
I shovel it in my mouth using tortilla chips as a vehicle. Why this discrepancy? I have no idea. It’s a little unsettling. It goes against my nature. Against the grain. Against everything I believe in. Against my testimony of avoiding smelly vegetables in the allium family. And yet, I snork it like nobody’s business.
Pico de Gallo is sometimes called salsa picada, which means chopped sauce. Pico de Gallo itself means rooster’s beak and I have no idea why. Maybe you do and you’d enlighten me?
Pico de Gallo
1 medium to large white onion
4 large, ripe tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
seeded jalapenos to taste
lemon
Chop tomatoes and onion into dime (or smaller) sized pieces. Place both in large bowl. Cut off the green onions’ root ends and half the green stalks, leaving the pretty and firm bottom to mid-section. Slice slim rounds and add to bowl. Chop or snip small pieces of cilantro. De-seed jalapeno and slice in to tiny chunks, maybe a third the size of the tomatoes. If you really like the taste of jalapeno, add as many as you want. If you want your salsa hotter, keep some of the seeds in the mix. Squeeze lemon or lime juice over the whole thing and mix well. I add a little salt to make the flavor pop but if you’re watching your sodium, it’s great without it.
Then, snork it with some chips.
I find it keeps ok for one day, but any longer and it gets too wet and the flavors fade and change. Store it in an airtight container and before serving the next day, drain as much fluid from the bottom as possible.
I also don’t like eating raw onion on anything because it’s just so strong I find it overpowering. But, after much experimentation, I have come to realize that onion in a salad with a lemon or lime juice dressing is always delicious. I think the acid in the fruit does something to the onion.
From Wikipedia:
One of the sources for the name “rooster’s beak” could be the beak-like shape and the red color of the chiles used to make it. According to food writer Sharon Tyler Herbst,[1] it is so called because originally it was eaten with the thumb and forefinger, and retrieving and eating the condiment resembled the actions of a pecking rooster.
Another suggested etymology is that pico is derived from the verb picar which has two meanings: 1) to mince or chop, and 2) to bite, sting or peck. The rooster, gallo in Spanish, is a common metaphor for the hyper-masculine (“macho”) male in Mexican culture. One example of such machismo is taking pride in withstanding the spicy burn (picante) of chiles.
A problem with these theories is they assume the use of hot chiles. In many regions of Mexico the term “pico de gallo” refers to any of a variety of salads, condiments or fillings made with sweet fruits, tomatoes, tomatillos, avocado or mild chiles—not necessarily with hot chiles or any chiles at all. Thus, the name could be a simple allusion to the bird feed-like (minced) texture and appearance of the sauce.[2]
While “pico de Gallo” literally means “beak of rooster,” the expression is used colloquially to mean “chicken feed.” The finely-chopped bits and pieces of pico de Gallo resemble the food given to chickens.
A theory is that the phrase is simply a phonetic corruption of “salsa picada”—literally, chopped or chunky sauce—or a synthesis of this with the above observed resemblance to bird feed.
yummmm-meeee. i have the same issue with onions, i like the flavor but they always make me sick.
thanks for posting this, i’m going to try and make some of my own.
yummm. Have you ever tried swapping the tomato for mango? super yummy. Then, add shrimp and really you have an entire meal.
I like the cameo appearance by Lacey 🙂
This recipe sounds delicious—the pictures look delicious—the model’s mouth looks very happy to be eating this deliciousness BUT is there something I can substitute for the cilantro???