Right at 11 a.m. sharp, a line had already formed at  North Oracle Road location.
Like clockwork, as soon as a customer’s number is called out, they head straight to the salsa bar, loading up on slices of limes and cups of pico de gallo.
The vibrant, tangy smell of pico de gallo surrounds you as you try to decide which salsa will be spread across your carne asada tacos. You’ll find yourself intensely staring at the different shades of greens and reds that fill the metal tubs, trying to make the almost impossible choice between a smoky salsa verde, or a spicy red salsa.
Those smoky and spicy flavors can either make or break a taco. A great salsa will not only taste delicious, but elevate a taco or tortilla chip and add an extra layer of heat and freshness to the dish. But a bad salsa will do the exact opposite, leaving you with a mouthful of a dull, bitter mess.
Steve Salata, a regular from Sahuarita, chows down on a Sonoran hot dog at El Guero Canelo’s South 12th Avenue location.
I mean, could you imagine pulling up to a friend’s carne asada dinner with a bowl of bland, watery pico de gallo?! Or even worse- bringing a canned salsa that comes straight off a grocery shelf. You’ll be the laughingstock of the party!
Sadly, you can’t go to the El Güero Canelo salsa bar and shovel spoonfuls of salsa verde into Tupperware in hopes of passing their iconic salsa off as your own. Thankfully, Daniel Contreras’ son and the marketing chief for the restaurant, Gregorio Contreras, is sharing a few tips and tricks on how to step your salsa game up.
At El Güero Canelo, the prep cooks come in before the restaurant opens in order to make huge amounts of fresh salsa to restock the bar. The recipes used come from both sides of Gregorio’s family. In fact, they just updated their red salsa, and are now using one of his mother’s recipes which packs a spicier punch.
There’s a simple reason why people tend to gravitate toward El Güero Canelo’s salsa. It’s because it’s simple! Gregorio said all their recipes really only use four to five ingredients and are straightforward to make.
Keeping the recipe simple is a crucial step in making sure you have a great salsa. You want your salsa to be the perfect balance of flavors; a little salty, a little limey and enough spice that it won’t leave you in tears, ensuring the taste of fresh ingredients shines through.
With a simple recipe in mind, it’s important to use quality vegetables, especially when making pico de gallo.
“We have high standards with the products that we use and we make sure they're fresh as possible to keep the consistency,†Gregorio said.
Gregorio said you want to see bright colors in your pico de gallo, not dull reds and greens when you mix together your tomatoes, onions and cilantro.
The vegetables you use not only affect the color of the salsa, but the taste and texture too. Using an unripe tomato may result in your salsa looking less vibrant than usual, and leave you with a more bitter and acidic taste. On the other hand, overripe tomatoes may mess with the texture and make it mushy.
With a pico de gallo, you want to find the perfect medium of chunky and crisp. A little crunch is ideal, which is easy to achieve when working with good quality vegetables!
For Gregorio, a salsa isn’t perfected until it’s got some spice to it. Without the heat, the salsa isn’t complete!
Working with jalapenos can be a luck of the draw. Sometimes you’ll get a spicy one and other times it’ll have no heat to it. That’s why Gregorio suggests adding some serrano peppers to the mix.
“I would suggest using a serrano,†Gregorio said. “In my opinion, habaneros tend to be mean while serranos will guarantee a good kick that won’t make you cry.â€
(As a bit of a baby, I love a good serrano. If a salsa has habanero in it, tears will instantly flow out of my eyes.)
If you’re looking for something that has more of a zesty profile, you can try your hand at making salsa verde. To make salsa verde, you have to roast tomatillos. Gregorio suggests roasting them on a grill so they get a nice char. That way, you get a smokey flavor to the salsa, elevating whatever taco it’s on. He also recommends washing the burn off after taking them off the grill.
For their new and improved red salsa, Gregorio said they use chile de arbol, which brings the heat and gives the salsa a rich, deep red color. After buying your roasted chile de arbol- which can be found at local grocery stores- you’ll bring it to a boil along with the other ingredients.
After the prep cooks at El Güero Canelo have boiled the ingredients, they let it cool before blending everything together. Once it’s blended, they have a bowl full of savory, spicy red salsa. Gregorio said this red salsa is easy to make and won’t keep you in the kitchen for too long.
With quality ingredients, a bit of spice and some love, you’ll be able to recreate salsas that’ll leave you guests believing you got your pico de gallo straight from El Güero Canelo’s salsa bar.