Recipe: Kristina’s Pico de Gallo

My version of Pico de Gallo has significantly less onion than what you usually find in the US supermarket versions. I also like the slight sweetness of a bit of fruit – it balances the heat of the pepper and sour of the lime – but fruit is not a traditional addition. What is traditional, however, is making this fresh relish with whatever the cook has on hand and feels like throwing in.

  • 2 large tomatoes or 3-4 roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 firm fruit (such as an apple, greenish nectarine, fuyu persimmon, or grapes), chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped (any color, I used red bell pepper in the batch in these photos)
  • ½ fresh jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (can substitute other fresh hot pepper)
  • 1 TBS red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green onion, finely chopped
  • 1 TBS fresh cilantro, chopped
  • Juice of 1 lime (approx 1 TBS)
  • Salt to taste

Hot tip: don’t handle jalapeño with your bare hands and then wipe your eyes 🥵. Use gloves. Or if you’re lazy like me, just put a piece of paper towel between your fingers and the pepper while cutting it. Then don’t forget to wash your hands!

Serve chilled with chips, or as a salad topping, or on top of eggs or any Mexican dish such as burritos, enchiladas, tamales, etc. I recommend pairing with cottage cheese or sour cream or queso fresco (fresh cheese).

I like it in an omelette, but I think my favorite is to put it on rice cakes with cream cheese.

Language note: Pico de Gallo is a weird phrase. Pico translates literally as a small amount, or a peck or a bird beak. De Gallo means “of rooster”. There are several explanations on the internet having to do with idioms like “a pinch of” being similar to how a rooster’s beak pinches a small amount. The explanation that made most sense to me is to think of how chickens peck the ground, foraging little bits of this and that with their beak. Pico de Gallo is little bits of this and that. By the way, the words gallina and gallo generally refer to live hens and roosters, and the word pollo generally means chicken meat. So this isn’t little bits of chicken meat. This is yummy little chopped fresh bits to eat – like what a rooster would love to eat. And us too! (Except not the bugs, lol, nope.)

To send me a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

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