Pico de gallo

A salsa that stays in pieces

Pico de gallo is a fresh condiment built from chopped tomato, onion, chile, cilantro and lime juice. Its defining feature is texture: the ingredients are chopped rather than blended, so each piece keeps its shape. That makes knife work, the moisture of the tomato and the time between mixing and serving part of the result. Wikipedia notes that because it has less liquid than Mexican liquid salsas, it can be used as a main ingredient in dishes such as tacos and fajitas.

The same article gives other names for it: salsa fresca, salsa cruda and simply pico. In Mexico it is usually called salsa mexicana. The tomato-based version is salsa picada, which means minced sauce. Salsa bandera, or flag sauce, refers to its red, white and green colours, a claim the article marks as needing a citation.

The name and its origin

The Spanish name translates to rooster's beak. The article gives several explanations and does not settle between them. One is that people in Sonora say the name comes from the beak-like shape of the serrano pepper, a claim cited to Janos Wilder's The Great Chiles Rellenos Book. Another, from Sharon Tyler Herbst's Food Lover's Companion, says the dish was originally eaten by pinching pieces between thumb and forefinger. A third, from Rick Bayless and Deann Groen's Authentic Mexican, speculates that the name refers to the texture of the chopped mixture, which resembles birdseed.

The page as a whole is marked as needing more citations, and its origin claims are not firmly established. This page does not give a date or a place of origin for pico de gallo.

Regional forms

In many parts of Mexico the term pico de gallo covers a wider group of salads, salsas and fillings than the tomato version. Wikipedia lists fruit salads and dishes made with tomatillo, avocado, orange, jicama, cucumber, papaya or mild chiles, tossed with lime juice and often finished with hot sauce or chamoy and salty chile powder. These are separate preparations under one name, and they are not interchangeable with the classic tomato, onion, chile and lime version.

Open questions

No dated source has been found for the origin of the tomato version. Claims about Aztec origin, and about Puebla as the place of origin, were not confirmed by the sources read, so they are not stated here.