The Salsa Throwdown

Here's an interesting little story.

Last weekend my husband Mike and I participated in a "salsa throwdown". This was basically a cleverly disguised excuse to have a Cinco de Mayo party, but nonetheless, became a serious cooking competition. Mike and I have always been sort of competitive when it comes to cooking , so naturally we decided we'd each provide our own entry.

We shopped and prepped for our salsa on Friday, the day before the party, so they'd have time to develop flavor overnight. I wrote a recipe for my salsa ( below ) and shopped judiciously from a prepared list, while Mike decided to wing it at the store. He's never made a salsa before, but didn't seem to be worried about ingredients. We ended up buying mostly the same staple items, and even agreed to share a few larger things. I asked him if he had any sort of gameplan - I was beginning to worry we were concocting an identical brew. He said " I think I'm going to grill a bunch of stuff". Uh-oh, me too.

Once the cooking got underway, I was relieved to see our projects part ways. I opted for a sweeter smoky flavor and grilled everything in my salsa , used unconventional flavorings and mildly spicy grilled jalepenos while Mike stuck with traditional ingredients, grilling some and not others. He used some fresh habanero peppers ( over 300,ooo on the Scoville Scale ) which automatically put him in contention for the hottest salsa award. Overall I was impressed by the fact he'd never even attempted making a salsa before - he seemed very confident in his finished product. I thought is tasted good, but I'm not a big fan of super spicy so it wasn't my cup of tea. He liked mine too. We we're anxious to see how they stacked up against the rest of the field.





When Saturday rolled around we tasted the salsas again to see how they'd changed overnight. My salsa deepend in flavor and became a little sweeter even. My dad suggested I add some spice so a few dashes of Cholula were in order. Mike's salsa suprisingly mellowed a bit. I was concerned it might get hotter overnight. Spice is a tricky component and it sometimes intensifies , while othertimes softens depending on the other ingredients it's paired with. Anyhow, they both tasted delicious and we packaged them up and off we went to the party ( stopping on the way to have a Margarita the size of my face ).

When we arrived at the throwdown, our salsas were whisked off to be divided into white styrofoam cups, the only visible description being a number from 1-13. This was to be an impartial blind voting system, with all 25 or so people in attendance getting to cast a ballot. The only rule - you could not vote for your own salsa. With 11 other entries, we knew the field was going to be tough. The good news was that being one of the last to arrive, we were able to scope out the competition, and they all looked very different. We could both visually identify our own entries amongst the variety of salsas - so we knew whose was whose. I had my eye on mine (#5 ) and Mike's (#8) while people began to taste and record their votes for 1st or 2nd place.

Right off the bat, Mike's salsa starts getting votes for 1st place left and right. Even the host of the party votes for him. I could see him getting secretly excited. I looked at him and said, "oh my god, you are going to win this aren't you?". He was freaking out, but trying to contain himself. You have to understand that my husband is one of the most competitive people on the planet and when it comes to food, as you can imagine, he always plays second fiddle in our house. So the thought of beating me, let alone 11 other people in a cooking contest was almost more than he could stand.

Well, skip ahead an hour or so and it's time to announce the winners of the contest. 1st and 2nd place both get a very nice bottle of anejo tequila, thanks to our fantastic hosts. At this point, I've polled the crowd and it's pretty much a forgone conclusion - everyone voted for #8. One person said they voted for #8 for 1st and 2nd place. Mike is beaming form ear to ear and trying not to let on that he knows he's going to win. The margaritas are flowing and he's not doing a very good job of acting surprised.

So it's announced that Mike's salsa takes first prize, and by a landlside. He got 11 1st place votes and 6 or 7 2nd place votes. He made a speech, while clutching his tequila prize like an academy award. It was something about dreams really do come true, and believing in yourself - he mentioned something about farm-to-table . . he even threw down the gauntlet for next year. It was kind of the funniest thing I've ever seen, I thought he was going to cry. It's on video , somewhere out there. The whole car ride home he was holding up one finger and yelling "#1" out the window - he woke up with the #1 in the air, he texted my parents, I could go on - but I won't.

The next closest person got 3 1st place and 2 2nd place votes, not even close. Oh by the way, it was #5 , which would be me. On the positive side, the Hubka Family sweeps the competition. On the other hand, I'm never, EVER going to live this one down.


Andies (ED: 2nd Place ) Championship Grilled Salsa Recipe

6 vine ripened tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper
2 jalapenos
1 onion, sliced into ½ inch rings
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon red chili flakes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
Cholula - to taste

1. Heat your grill to medium.

2. Meanwhile, core tomatoes and cut an X through the skin at the bottoms.

3. In a bowl, toss tomatoes with the red bell pepper, jalepeno and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Grill the onions, pepper, and tomatoes, away from direct heat, turning frequently, for about 15 minutes.

5. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with saran wrap to steam and loosen the skins. Let the tomatoes and onions cool.

6. In a large bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, vinegars, chili flakes, and basil / oregano. Season to taste and set aside.

7. Peel and seed the grilled bell peppers and tomatoes. Roughly chop and add to the olive oil mixture.

8. Roughly chop the onions and add to the other vegetables with the olive oil mixture. Mix well and set aside. Can be kept at room temperature up to 3 hours.