Originally Posted by Geodyssey
(Post 2049041)
A taco is just a tortilla folded around some filling. That's it. The definition applies in Mexico and the US. So a flour tortilla filled with ground beef, McCormick taco seasoning, shredded lettuce, and cheddar cheese is a taco. Filling can be fish or even non-meat, like potatoes. My favorite is chopped carne asada in a grilled corn tortilla with a little chopped onion, pico de gallo, and a lime squeeze. Like you described.
Salsa translates as "sauce". Nothing more, nothing less. It need not contain chilis or tomatoes, but almost always contains the former, usually the later too. Salsas can be cooked or uncooked.
Almost non-refrigerated salsas are cooked- hot sauce, tapatio, Pace, Taco Bell packets, etc. Northern Mexico cuisine uses very little vinegar. Although Tabasco is the name of a Mexican state, Tabasco sauce is not Mexican. It's cajun/southern and was invented by a US banker. (Nothing stopping a restaurant in Mexico serving Tobasco, and some do)
Pico de Gallo ("beak of the rooster") aka salsa fresca is uncooked chilis, tomatoes, onion, salt, maybe lime & some other spices. Colors of the Mexican flag. Can add fruit (mango), avacado, etc. Uncooked salsas separate into solids & liquid.
Catsup and Hollandaise are salsas.
When most people say "taco sauce" they mean a cooked mild tomato-based salsa with few or no chunks, usually a little sweet. Nothing wrong with that but, like shredded lettuce & cheddar, not often found on northern Mexico cuisine tacos.
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