Name: Veracruz-Style Sauce (Salsa a la Veracruzana)
Yield: Makes 3–3½ cups
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: ¼ teaspoon freshly ground canela; 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 4–5 large ripe tomatoes (about 2 pounds), finely chopped, or one 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), coarsely chopped, with their juice; 2 fresh oregano sprigs or ¼ teaspoon crumbled dried Mexican oregano; 1 teaspoon capers (12–15 large or 24–30 small ones); 1 medium-sized white onion, finely chopped; ¼ cup olive oil; 12 pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced if large; 2 bay leaves; ½ cup fresh Italian parsley leaves; 2–3 Pickled jalapeño chiles, stemmed, seeded, and cut lengthwise into thin strips; 2 fresh thyme sprigs or ¼ teaspoon crumbled dried thyme; 5 garlic cloves, 2 minced, 3 left whole; 2 fresh marjoram sprigs or ¼ teaspoon crumbled dried marjoram; ½ cup dry white wine

Preparation info

Makes
3–3½ cups

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Zarela's Veracruz

By Zarela Martínez

Published 2001

About

Food lovers who know nothing else about Veracruzan cuisine probably have heard of this sauce through a dish served in restaurants from Mexico to Manhattan: huachinango a la veracruzana, red snapper topped with a medley of onions, tomatoes, garlic, capers, pickled chiles, pimiento-stuffed green olives, and some combination of herbs, all gloriously redolent of olive oil. (See the recipe) Actually, a wide range of things can be called a la veracruza