Salsa Every Day Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sofrito

Sofrito (which the Catalan call sofregit) was originally made by frying onions in olive oil for a long time at low heat. As with many Spanish dishes, tomatoes were added after Columbus brought them to Europe. The onions improve the longer they sauté - up to two days, in some high-end restaurants - but must not be allowed to burn. Sofritos from elsewhere incorporate other vegetables: garlic and bell peppers elsewhere in Spain, carrots in Italian soffritto (note the spelling), the base of a bolognese.

Answer: Picada

Where sofrito begins countless Catalan dishes, picada finishes them - and picada itself starts with sofrito! Picada (from the verb "picar," to crush) is, at its most basic, a thick paste added to stews, soups, chili, other sauces, braising juices, and beans. In his great cookbook "Catalan Cuisine," Colman Andrews describes it as "kind of a secret ingredient" comparable to roux, gremolada, and pesto (as different as those are). The main parts are blanched nuts, friend bread, and garlic, masticated in a mortar and pestle until the crushed components are unrecognizable.

Here's one list of possible accouterments: "oil, garlic, saffron, almonds, hazelnuts, cinnamon, parsley, and cookies soaked in sherry..." - and, no kidding, that's all for one recipe!

Answer: Samfaina

Made with eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and bell peppers sautéed into mush, samfaina's list of components resembles a rustic ratatouille. To call samfaina a salsa is not so much a stretch as it is a failure of categories: it certainly can be a salsa if you wish it to be, and it can be a side dish if that's what you prefer! Samfaina is typically reduced on a stovetop indefinitely, much like a sofrito.

It becomes more and more jammy as it cooks, and the decision on when to stop it is entirely yours. The result pairs great with scrambled eggs, or may be found baked into sweet flatbreads in Barcelona's pastry shops.

Answer: Mayonesa

The borders between French and Spanish cooking are blurry in places - the Catalan region, which defines so much of "Spanish" cuisine, extends over the Pyrenees into south France, and borders have a funny habit of not staying still. Mayonnaise actually originates from Mahón, a Spanish port in the Balearics taken by the French during the Seven Years War.

The line between aioli and mayonnaise is debatable. Some would say an aioli that adds anything but garlic becomes a mere "flavored mayonnaise," and others would scoff at Americanized aiolis that are little more than mayo and garlic. Either way, this whole spectrum of sauces is beloved as a dip in Spain: Simone Ortega's "1080 Recipes" includes seven types of mayonnaise.

Answer: Ink sauce

Black as midnight on a moonless night, ink sauce is also called salsa de tinta for reasons that need no translation. Both squid and cuttlefish have usable ink sacs, with ink giving the sauce thickness and earthy flavor. The ink is added to a simple vegetable base of onion and white wine. It can be used as a component in paellas or pasta dishes, or for braising the squid from which the ink came. While it might make you squeamish, ink has been eaten for centuries and may have anti-cancer properties.

Answer: Allioli

In Catalonia, where it originates, aioli would be spelled "allioli," which reveals the etymological simplicity (garlic is an "allium" and "i" is Catalan for "and" - "all + i + oli"). While Catalonians are adamant that allioli is *nothing but* garlic, oil, salt and - for the daring - lemon juice, the aïoli made in nearby Provence *always* includes eggs. It says something about the Catalan spirit that rather than respect this small regional preference, they have, according to Andrews, taken it as "further proof" that "the French don't know very much about food after all."

The point of allioli is to serve as a glossy condiment, and for the record, Andrews is no snob about the egg thing; he says few but the sagest grandmas in the Pyrenees have the technique of "pure" allioli down. He recommends using apples or pears instead of eggs if you wish to make an easy vegan version.

Answer: Romesco

The defining red sauce of Catalonia's fishing villages, romesco is beloved for its incredible versatility. The sauce combines the flavors of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, dried smoky chiles, and sweet paprika, and thickened with toast and nuts, making it a derivative of picada.

Because it balances so many sweet, toasty, and savory flavors, the result can brighten seafood and snails, cut through grilled meat, star on a slice of toast, or make vegetables come alive. A local delicacy is to serve romesco as a dip for calçots, a green onion similar to leeks.

Answer: Salsa vizcaina

...And salsa vizcaina is the fundamental red sauce of *Basque* cooking. Biscay (a.k.a. Viscaya or Bizkaia) lies on Spain's northernmost coast, and the region's abundant salt cod goes with Biscayne sauce the way peanut butter goes with jelly. Unlike the many kinds of sauce that use milder white onions, salsa vizcaina showcases strong red onions - the sauce derives its color from dried red peppers and red onion. The flavor can be augmented with apples or (if you wish to get involved with heated Internet arguments about "pure" Biscayne sauce) tomatoes. The sauce is also watery, unlike romesco.

Traditional recipes for salsa vizcaina and romesco call for specialty dried chili peppers - choriceros for vizcaina and the similar noras for romesco, which bring raisin-like depth and smokiness as well as heat. These aren't readily available over in the United States (though I hate to underestimate Amazon); the books advise you to substitute our many excellent dried varieties, such as ancho chilies, instead.

Answer: Salsa espanola

Reduction from animal bones and bonded by darkly-toasted roux, "salsa española" is actually most associated with French cuisine. It was Auguste Escoffier who formulated "sauce espagnole" as one of the five "mother sauces" in French cooking, though he certainly did not invent such a fundamental and widely-spread sauce. Virtually all world cooking has taken inspiration from Escoffier, and what we can redundantly call Spanish sauce espagnole has become a core part of Spain's cuisine.

Classically, sauce espagnole was the base for making demi-glace, a highly thickened, near-gelatinous reduction of animal parts used to make all sorts of dishes glossy. Albodingas, a Spanish form of meatballs popular as tapas, can be served in salsa espanola.

Answer: Pil pil

Pil pil is another classic from the Basques, so it won't surprise you that it's commonly enjoyed on salt fish, in addition to "gambas" (shrimp). Much like allioli, pil pil involves emulsifying garlic and oil - legend has it that sailors got the idea from rocking ships, which amusingly suggests the Basques invented emulsifying.

But quite unlike allioli, pil pil starts by gently toasting the garlic. You then place the fish or shrimp into the pan and stir while the sauce comes together and you hear the fish pil-pil. Finally, finish with the brined green peppers known as guindillas.

Answer: Salsa brava

While other Spanish pepper sauces use fresh, dried, or roasted peppers, salsa brava is all about the powdered stuff. Both types of paprika, pimentón picante (spicy) and pimentón dulce (sweet), are used. Many a tapas bar will drizzle the potatoes with salsa brava and allioli to give both flavor and color contrast.

Answer: Mojo

Both mojo verde and the delightfully named mojo rojo are bright sauces usually incorporating several kinds of citrus. Red mojo gets its rojo from paprika, and is eaten with potatoes. Mojo verde blends fresh herbs, and can be used for braising fish. In the U.S., talk of mojo instantly brings to mind Cuban sandwiches, where it may be used both as a dipping sauce and a marinade for its roast pork.