My dad is from El Salvador, but my mom is not. My brother is from El Salvador, but my sister and I are not. We grew up in the US, speaking English, practicing an American religion, learning American culture from our American schools, eating mostly American foods. We learned a lot about our father’s culture, but now as I’m getting older, I understand how much I missed when my dad or abuelita would tell us stories, cook traditional foods, and sing us old songs.
Growing up Salvadoran-American has provided me an interesting if not unique outlook. I was raised eating foods my friends couldn’t pronounce, with a last name people couldn’t read, with a family whose stories took place in what seemed like a completely different world. We didn’t have boogeymen or monsters in the closet (save for a literal vinyl mask my brother hid in a linen closet to scare me) – we had el cucuy and la chupacabra (the latter of which my brother convinced me ate children, too – my brother liked to pick on me a lot). We grew up with dual-vocabulary, though not bilingual.
And of course, we grew up with the understanding that spending the night at Abuelita’s meant guisquil relleno, that every Christmas we’d enjoy pan con pavo, and that when we went back home, it would be with a bag full of tamales.
As my grandmother has grown older, her health has waned, and now at family gatherings, my Tias (aunts), primos (cousins), and I are charged with preparing meals and carrying forward traditions. We each have our own stories, our own songs, but the foods are still passed on from my Abuelita.
I’ve taken joy in documenting the days I spend learning from her. Learning about foods that are native to wear she’s from, learning techniques and tricks to bring out the flavors of herbs and spices, learning how to create the signature flavors we love so well (like toasting herbs to enhance and intensify their flavors). One of the cores of our family’s favorite dishes is the salsa sabrosa (savory sauce) that we use to cook meats, and I’m so pleased to share this recipe with you. Except I’ve left out the secret ingredient, because every family has their little tricks.
Savory Salvadoran Braising Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Tomato (cut in half)
- 2 large Onions (peeled & cut in half)
- 1 clove of Garlic (peeled)
- 3-4 quarts Water (or enough to cover tomatoes)
- 2 tbsp Knorr Chicken Bouillon
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 dash Cumin
- 1 tsp Sesame Seed
- 2-3 tsp Pumpkin Seed
- 1 Clove
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Dried Chile (crumbled; I recommend New Mexico reds)
- Nutmeg
- 1 stick of Cinnamon
Instructions
- Add tomatoes, onions, and garlic to a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add sesame & pumpkin seeds, clove, bay leaves, and dried chile to a skillet. Shave a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg into the mix. This herb mixture is called a relajo. Stir well, then toast until the pumpkin seeds and sesames start to turn golden brown.
- Remove herbs from heat, then add them to a grinder or single-serving blender, then grind to the consistency of cornmeal. This mixture adds thickness and body to the salsa. Set it aside.
- Once tomatoes and onions are soft, remove them from heat. This is the hard part - blend them (with the water) in a large blender - you'll need to hold the top down with a towel, as it's generally bad practice to blend something that's hot. We're kinda rebels.
- Once the tomato mix is blended, add the herbs to it and blend until fully incorporated.
- Put the blended sauce back into the stockpot and simmer. Now it's ready to be used for pan con pavo, to stew meats for tamales, for braising meats and so much more.
What a sweet memory! And sounds delicious!
I’ve been lokinog for a post like this forever (and a day)
I too have a father from El Salvador and I was born here in the US and my mother is white. So I wasn’t around my Abuelita’s to learn everything from. My Dad says it come has came naturally to me to be able to cook what I know not really anything about. So I am extremely happy to have found your food recipes. I really appreciate you doing these recipes. I am looking forward to making this tonight. I am a Wela already so I am trying to pass the heritage on the I can. Thanks Yezzenia
I followed your recipe exactly but found myself confused by the Knorr seasoning. In the pan con pollo recipe it mentions using the 2.2 lbs which is A LOT. In this recipe you mention 2 tablespoons. I used the entire 2.2 lbs, despite my better judgement. It ruined my entire meal. It was too salty to dilute. I tried draining the entire broth and replacing with water, I added potatoes to absorb the salt, and added flour. I didn’t grow up on Latin American cuisine and I’ve never cooked it before either. I’m not sure if maybe you made an error in your published recipe regarding the appropriate measurement, or if you actually DO use that much, but I believe this recipe would be perfect with a fraction of that amount of knorr. Also, in this recipe, though you mention the knorr in the ingredients, you forgot to mention in the steps when to add the knorr. I followed the steps and didn’t realize until the end that I didn’t use the knorr. I’m not being a critic as I believe it’s an honest mistake and I imagine this recipe is delicious when measured appropriately.
So glad I found your page! My husband is Salvadoran, I’m not but I like being able to cook for him. I’ve gotten tortillas down. I’m scared of attempting and nothing pupusas. But this you made so easy! I found relajo made already in the super market and just used that. It’s Christmas Eve or Noche Buena, and I’m sitting here typing as in waiting for the onion and tomato to boil. Afraid of the blender a bit with all that what lol but excited as well.thabk you for this! My husband knows the ingredients for most dishes for the most part but not measurements or how long exactly to cook stuff