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The word "salsa" is
the Spanish word for sauce. The salsas many of us think
of are salsa frescas or salsa cruda, fresh sauces served
as a condiment aside a Mexican meal. These uncooked
sauces might be pureed until smooth, semi-chunky, or
the uniformly chopped pico de gallo.
The origin of salsa dates back to the time of the Aztec,
Mayan and Inca civilization. It was the Spaniards who
first came across tomatoes, after they succeeded in
taking over Mexico (1519-1521). This is when the history
of salsa food began to take shape. Aztec lords started
to make a mixture of tomatoes with chili peppers and
ground squash seeds. They used it as a condiment, to
be eaten alongside turkey, venison, lobster, and fish.
It was Alonso de Molina who first gave the name ‘salsa’ to
the mixture, in 1571.
The person who began the Extract of Louisiana Pepper,
Red Hot Creole Peppersauce for the first time was Charles
E. Erath of New Orleans, who started making it in 1916.
The following year, La Victoria Foods started the production
of Salsa Brava, in Los Angeles. In Louisiana, the manufacture
of Crystal Hot Sauce, by Baumer Foods, started in 1923,
while that of Original Louisiana Hot Sauce, by Bruce
Foods, made its introduction in 1928. Both of these
salsa sauce brands are in existence till date.
Henry Tanklage formed La Victoria Sales Company, with
the aim of marketing the new La Victoria salsa line,
in 1941. He was the one who is credited for introducing
red and green taco and enchilada sauces, among the
first salsa hot sauces in US. It was in the year 1946
that Tanklage took over the entire La Victoria operation,
which today provides ten different hot sauces and covers
the entire salsa spectrum, including Green Chili Salsa
and Red Salsa Jalapeña. The year 1947 saw salsa
being made in Texas also.
In Texas, David and Margaret Pace were the ones who
introduced salsa, with their picante sauce. La Victoria
Foods introduced the first commercial taco sauce in
US in 1952, while a line of salsas was launched by
La Preferida in 1955. Desert Rose Salsa was introduced
to the people by Patti Swidler of Arizona, in 1975.
Hardly four years later, Dan Jardine launched Jardine's
commercial salsa, in Austin (Texas). It was this salsa
that ended up giving Austin the reputation of the hot
sauce capital of America.
In 1980, Norma and W. Park Kerr launched the El Paso
Chili Company, another salsa company in Texas, in 1980.
This was followed by Miguel's Stowe Away, in Vermont,
which launched a salsa line six years later. The same
year, in April, began the production of Montezuma brand
of hot pepper sauces and salsas in Ohio, by Sauces & Salsas
Ltd. The passing years saw the sale and consumption
of salsa growing more and more. By 1992, the percentage
of American households buying salsa was up to 36 percent.
By 1992, the top eight salsa manufacturers in the history
of salsa sauce were Pace, Old El Paso, Frito-Lay, Chi-Chi's,
La Victoria, Ortega, Herdez, and Newman's Own. However,
the growth of smaller salsa companies eroded the market
share of the big companies. Two years later, Campbell
Soup Company took over Pace Foods, the Numero Uno salsa
manufacturer, for USD1.1 billion. To date, Jose Goldstein
Artichoke Garlic Salsa, La Paloma Hot Salsa and La
Paloma Mild Salsa are amongst the most popular salsa
in the world. Well, now there is a new kid on the block
and goes by the name of TommyV's Salsa. |
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