According to Wikipedia, pico de gallo is, “a fresh uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, onion, and sometimes chiles (typically jalapeños or serranos).” In Spanish, pico de gallo means “rooster’s beak.” There’s more information in the wiki article about the etymology of pico de gallo; see the end of this article for the link.
Pico de Gallo is used interchangeably with salsa in most restaurants, unless you go to an authentic Mexican restaurant where you’ll notice the difference. Salsa is more saucy, whereas pico de gallo is more chunky and includes less liquid. Depending on how you make it, they can be similar. The recipe I’m going to share with you though is for pico de gallo.
Grab a bowl of a good size. Once you have your bowl, dice your tomatoes and put them in the bowl. If you can, take out the seeds and the liquid from the tomatoes so that your pico de gallo isn’t too watery. If you’d like, you can use 6 large tomatoes instead of 8 roma tomatoes. You can also mix your tomatoes by using 6 roma tomatoes with 2 tomatillos for a mix of color.
Once your tomatoes are in the bowl, add a tablespoon or so of garlic. Make sure the garlic is as minced as possible. You can buy garlic already minced if you don’t feel like doing the cutting. After the garlic, add the diced onion. I recommend using red onion for pico de gallo, but if you don’t have a red onion a white onion will suffice. I’ve never tried it with a yellow onion but it’s possible that yellow onions can work with this recipe as well. The goal here is to have a ratio of 2:1 tomatoes to onions. Use more or less onion depending on the taste you’re looking for.
After the onions, cut up some fresh cilantro and add it to the bowl. Avoid dried cilantro or ground coriander if at all possible. If your cilantro is on its way out the door, don’t use it. You need it to be as fresh as possible. You can tell fresh cilantro – it has a great smell to it. Its leaves are green and bright. After the cilantro, then add your black pepper. If you don’t have black pepper you can substitute white pepper for this recipe.
Next, add the sea salt. Kosher salt will work here as well if you don’t have sea salt available. Add as much as you want to satisfy your taste. Keep in mind, the salt will draw water out of the tomatoes so at the end your pico de gallo may be a little juicier than you desire. Don’t worry about this just yet as we’ll deal with extra liquid later.
After the salt, add the remaining ingredients – the cumin, the peppers, and the lime juice. The best way to get lime juice out is to gently press the lime against a hard surface and roll it around a few times on the surface. What happens is that there’s an inner-crushing going on with the lime, separating the juice from the pulp. Once you open the lime then you’ll be able to get more juice out.
When you’re done, stir up the ingredients so that everything meshes together. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and let chill overnight for best results. The next day, taste the pico de gallo. If you find it’s too salty, you can add more tomatoes and onions to offset the saltiness. If it’s not seasoned enough, you can add more salt or cumin or pepper to adjust the flavor. I say not to do this in the beginning because everything has to set a while before you can find out what the pico de gallo really tastes like.
If you want to alter this recipe some, you can add mango to make it a bit sweeter. You can also add corn and black beans if you prefer that. You’re entering salsa territory by doing things like this, but they are definitely options for your pico de gallo. Happy eating!
