Salsa/Picante.

[stroke]

Hi all. I would like to ask what is the difference between salsa sauce and picante sauce. I've been trying to figure this out for some time and finally decided I would ask you lot.

[Delpot]

Literally. Picante means sharp, i.e. spicy and salsa means sauce. Salsa picante would therefore be spicy sauce. All kinds of sauces are referred to as salsa or salsa picante and different people have different opinions as to what is what. Having been around Mexican neighborhoods throughout my adult life I can tell you, however, that at least in that context there is no clear-cut distinction between these two.

[justinson]

Salsa=sauce (any kind). Picante=Salsa (sauce) made from tomatoes (onions and peppers). Therefore all picante sauces would actually be salsas but not all salsas would be picante.

[8mh]

"Salsa picante" translates as sharp sauce (that is hot or spicy , depending on your terminology). "Salsa" is an abbreviated name for it whereas "picante sauce" is likely to be an English corruption of this term.