In this installment
Xilli Salsa Macha from Mexico
This club is about our latest food finds, but I hesitate to say it chases any trends or food world fads. On the contrary, we all pride ourselves on seeing through the smoke of a “fad” and resisting the quick and easy popularity for flavors that are more traditional and have a very long history.
Sometimes I have an experience that shows me that tastes have evolved and a trend is no long just a passing fancy, but it has staying power. Back at the beginning of April, I had such an experience and it led to this product appearing with you now. Here’s the short version:
A few families were gathering for the eclipse viewing/birthday celebration and I brought a bunch of condiments, sauces, and odd foods to sample and enjoy. After two days of snacking and eating and nibbling and making paella, the most beloved food was a salsa macha. It was a melange of dried chiles and peanuts and oil and spices and more chiles and people put it on everything during our stay: eggs, sandwiches, mixed with mayo to make a dip for veggies, on sheep’s milk cheese, on cheddar cheese—if there was a food on the counter people were putting the salsa macha on top.
I’ve been a big fan of spicy foods of late, and while I know not everyone might be on board, I think it’s worth trying. You see, spicy foods in general help you taste “more” out of food. As we get older, our tastebuds get a little worn down. They’re still effective, but maybe not as great as before. Spicy foods cause an actual physical reaction to your tongue that makes your tastebuds tighten up and stand at attention (as it were). If you’re eating rich, buttery foods your tongue can develop a layer of fat on top of your tongue and it can sort of mute the volume of flavor your tastebuds can detect. But spicy up the food and those tastebuds will pop right through and taste everything. That’s why it was such a popular pairing with cheeses and rich foods like eggs or mixed into dips.
After that sort of target research, I was convinced to feature a salsa macha. And of all the salsa machas I’ve tasted in the last few years, this one from Chef Nacxi Gaxiola and his small company, Xilli in New York City is my favorite. For more than twenty years Nacxi has been researching traditional techniques and flavors and trying to figure out how to bring them into a modern world and introduce them to a new audience.
This salsa is spicy and it will cause your cheeks to sweat if you just eat it straight away. But it’s spicy with flavor and you can coax a lot of flavor out of it by mixing it with other flavors or sauces. Cutting it with olive oil and adding a touch of vinegar would make for an invigorating vinaigrette…maybe for a taco inspired salad. I top it over the eggs and I put dollops of the stuff into or onto everything I’ve eaten lately and with the glut of fresh produce and flavors coming soon to a market near you, there should be lots of ways to use this incredible condiment.