Latin SaucesA Bold New World of Flavor

Taste a regions cuisine and you taste its culture. Nowhere is this truer than with the salsas, sofritos and sauces of Latin America. Layers of history, geography, time and tradition pile atop one another, as rich and complex as the sauces themselves.

And theres never been a better time for product developers and foodservice research chefs to explore the culinary world next door. Mainstream North American palates are already being tantalized by churrasco-style restaurants, such as the Fogo de Chão chain, which are gaining in popularity. And the Floridian or Miami Cuban sandwichjust think panini and a simple, spicy mustard sauce is a perfect example of how simple Latin American ingredients have changed todays sandwich game.

You neednt set off south of the border to capture the character of Latin America in your own sauces and seasonings. With a little grounding in the cuisines themselvesnot to mention help from an arsenal of convenient, value-added ingredientsyou can easily bring those flavors to consumers homes.

Consider the chile 

If theres one ingredient that says Latin flavor more than any other, its the chile. With its 6,000- plus years of history in the region, it should come as no surprise that chile peppers have typified the fiery bite of Latino dishes since pre-Hispanic times. 

But fire isnt all chiles offer. Latino cooks have made an art and a science out of recognizingand maximizingthe full palette of profiles that chiles present. They know when and where to feature the scorching sting of a habanero such as in fiery hot sauces like ixni-pec from Mexicos Yucatán Peninsulaand when its time to play up that same peppers fruitier, citrus notessuch as in a mangohabanero salsa. By smoking the green and grassy jalapeño, they transform it into the beguilingly smoky chipotle, a staple in adobo sauce. When immaturely picked and dried, the poblano is known as an ancho chile, with a sharp, fruity heat essential in moles and other cooked sauces. The mulato, a maturely picked and dried poblano, tastes similar, though chile-heads can distinguish it by its sweet, chocolate notes. The small, hot serrano chile is used throughout Mexico as a seasoning, most commonly while still green. And the tiny rocotillo, found in the Spanish Caribbean, is as fragrant as the habanero while packing none of its punch in terms of heat.

Beyond the large lexicon of chile names, physical features of different pepper varietals differ across growing regions and conditions, resulting in a spectrum of sizes and colors. Fortunately, chile suppliers and processors have done much of the sorting out of chile types for product designers. Those who really know their wares can help find the perfect pepper for creating the exact effect, be it subtle or spicy. Pepper processors have also eased product formulation and production by drying and roasting the chiles so manufacturers dont have to.

If youve ever compared the flavor of a roasted chile to a fresh one, youll know this is no minor detail. Although both are delicious, the two are often worlds apart. Traditionally, cooks in Latin America would roast chiles one by one on metal or ceramic griddles called comales. These days, processors eliminate that painstaking process by employing more-advanced technologies that better control the process, such as in the fire-roasted, grilled vegetables from Gilroy Foods. But the upshot is the same: a pepper sporting a smoky, almost caramelized, mellowness and a visually appealing char that has artisanal preparation written all over it.

Processors also save manufacturers a step by grinding, blending and puréeing peppers. Once upon a time, every Latin American household had a stone metate or molcajete (think mortar and pestle) in their kitchen for grinding chiles into a seasoning powder or, with the addition of ingredients like chocolate or pumpkin seeds, regional specialty sauces like moles. But industrial suppliers offer dehydrated and customized chile blends that pack bright color and flavor into convenient delivery systems, such as controlled-moisture products. These typically have less water content than individually quick-frozen (IQF) products, and can usually be added directly to applications without worrying about syneresis.

When its fresh flavor youre after, prepared industrial ingredients like those in the Gilroy Foods GardenFrost® line deliver crisp, fresh chile taste in custom blends that allow you to pinpoint the precise Scoville heat value for your audience. Purées can be used as a base for anything from traditional salsas to a range of pan- Latino sauces.

Foundations of flavor 

A full discussion of Latin American sauces wouldnt be complete without celebrating the range of other foundational flavors beyond chiles. Take the tomato. Like the chile, its a New World fruit that provides a critical base note in so many of the regions sauces.

Salsa fresca features raw, fresh tomatoes simplyoften coarsely chopped, often along with chiles, onions, garlic, herbs and spices. Some preparations combine tomatoes with roasted vegetables for a deeper, charred note. Similarly, simmering such a mélange for hours over a low flame lets the ingredients meld into a harmony thats very different from the impression they make when uncooked.

Latino cuisine wouldnt be the same without onions and garlic, either. Used raw for a pungent bite, they turn as smooth and sweet as candy after long, slow roasting. Punching up the green and herbal notes in the regions dishes are staples like cilantro, oregano, parsley and hoja santa (Piper auritum)sometimes called Mexican pepper-leaf or root beer planta peppery herb that grows throughout Mesoamerica and has earned a place in its recipes, most notably in mole verde. In Puerto Rico, culantro, sometimes called Mexican coriander or recao, contributes unmistakable character to regional seasonings like sofrito. The flavor of culantro is similar to cilantro, but darker and earthier.

Other aromatics and spices, nuts and seeds also lend savor to Latino sauces. Latin cooking uses a palette of sweet spices like cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, coriander and allspice. Nuts and seeds, including walnuts, sesame seed and achiote, the small, red annatto seed used for flavor and color, also add accents to various Latin dishes. Citrus fruits like orange and lime lend the acid tang of their juice and the amazing aroma of their zest.

Seasonings and sauces 

Now that youve had a primer in the basics of Latin American flavor, you should feel confident navigating the myriad sauces and seasonings that put those basics to delectable use. The styles are as varied as the cultures themselves, each reflecting whats unique about that subregions location, history and culinary personality. Take a tour of the selections described below, and feel free to lingeryoure bound to find a souvenir to bring back to your own formulations.

Marinades. Technically, a marinade is a liquid flavoring agent that gives proteins and vegetables a flavor boost before cooking or during the cooking process, in which case it functions more as a basting liquid. One example, adobo, a Mexican sauce or paste, typically consists of onion, garlic, vinegar and spices and seasonings like black pepper and bay leaf; its not unlike barbecue sauce and is used as a cooking sauce and marinade. Adobo can be made hotter by including chipotlesand for extra kick, the seeds and veins of the chilesin the mixture.

Cooking bases and sauces. As their name suggests, cooking bases and sauces build flavors during the cooking stage. Traditional mixtures of sautéed vegetables create distinctive regional flavor palettes, and often create the base notes for other cooking sauces.

Latin America is home to many flavorful tomato sauces used to simmer fish, chiles rellenos and other foods. The flavoring elements vary depending on the region, but a traditional sauce for chiles rellenos typically includes tomatoes, onion and garlic. Chirmol frito, a cooked tomato sauce found throughout Central America, is seasoned with jalapeño peppers, garlic, lime juice, oregano and parsley. In the villages of the Yucatán, Mayan cooks roast tomatoes on the hot stones of the pit barbecue and grind them in a mortar before adding onions and habaneros to create a spicy, full-flavored sauce.

Recaito is a combination of onions, garlic, cilantro and ajicitos dulces, chiles that add an herbal note without too much heat. Sometimes, a mildly hot, banana-shaped chile called a cubanelle is used instead. Recaito is the foundation of countless preparations in Puerto Rican cooking, and can be made ahead of time in large batches to be added as needed to season stewed black beans, pot roast, Puerto Rican rice and beans, soups and stews like pork pozole, and marinated, grilled swordfish.

The cooking base called sofrito, composed of tomato, onion, green peppers, cilantro and garlic, adds a fresh, herbal note to soups and stews, as well as to cooking sauces. Spanish in origin, its found a home throughout Latin America, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Mole is the term for a wide range of sauces based on puréed dried chiles and spices, and is characteristic of Oaxacan cooking. Some moles are quite simple, while others include dried fruits, nuts, charred fresh vegetables and even chocolate. Typically, the meats served with mole are braised or poached and the sauce is ladled on at the end, though sometimes the food is browned and then cooked in the mole. Moles incorporating pumpkin or other seeds, which act as thickeners, are called pipianes.

Condiments and table sauces. Heres where you can really play around with Latin American flavors and ingredients. Diners love to have sauces for dipping or drizzling to adjust the flavors to their own tastes, and there is a virtually endless cache of delicious condiments and table sauces from which to choose.

No stranger to American tables, salsa cruda is a Mexican side sauce based on fresh chiles, tomatoes and herbs. Chirmol is a similar sauce from Central America, but unlike salsa cruda, chirmol is typically a cooked salsa.

Mojo, from the Spanish word mojar, meaning to wet or dunk, is a tart, garlicky sauce based on citrus juice. Ubiquitous to the tables of Cuban restaurants for pouring over vegetables, potatoes, grilled meats or fish, it also comes into play as a marinade. Ajílimójili adds jalapeños and cilantro for a sauce that goes great with barbecued suckling pig.

Yucatánean ixni-pec incorporates the fiery habanero, one of the hottest peppers, along with Seville orange juice and onions. This sauce nicely complements grilled fish.

Brazil is home to molho de pimenta e limão, a similar sauce to ixni-pec but made with super hot malagueta peppers and lime or lemon juice. Like ixni-pec, it typically accompanies fish.

Guatemalan cooks combine tomatillos, hot peppers (usually serranos), vinegar and spices in salsa de tomate verde, a green sauce that complements meat, poultry, fish or shellfish.

Chimichurri, a pungent garlicparsley sauce, is drizzled on grilled meats in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in churrasco, or barbecue- style, cooking. It is also used as a marinade. This fragrant green blend has caught on in the United States as well, where its served with a wide variety of dishes.

Pebre, a thin sauce of fresh coriander, aji chiles, vinegar and olive oil, is served in Chile as a dipping sauce for empanadas or sopaipillas (fried puff pastry).

In Ecuador, salsa de mani, a creamy peanut sauce that includes onions, garlic and tomato, is served with potato cakes known as llapingachos.

Guasacaca, a colorful Venezuelan variation of guacamole that includes vinegar, is served as a sauce for grilled meats rather than as a dip.

No round-up of Latin sauces would be complete without a nod to Spain. To mention just a few, romesco typically combines roasted red bell peppers or sweet Spanish paprika (pimentón dulce), almonds, hazelnuts and olive oil to make a dipping sauce for seafood, seafood tapas and fritters. Adding small, dried red chiles (pimentón picante) contributes a bit of heat to romesco, if desired. Fried bread and almonds thicken mojo de almendra, a garlicky dipping sauce often served with salty papas arrugadas, or wrinkled potatoes.

Latin America is a wellspring of long-held culinary traditions and innovative fusions that nod to the future. Now that moles, salsas and sofritos are turning up in everything from quick-service sandwich spreads to salad dressings, its clear that mainstream consumers have been quick in warming up to the cuisines of the many varied Latin countries from Mexico to Central and South America, as well as Spain. And with the ingredients, technologies and expertise now available, its never been easier to infuse North American fare with Latin American flavor. 

Matthew Burton is the director of culinary innovation at ConAgra Foods, Omaha, NE. He is a Certified Research Chef and a member of the Research Chefs Association.