Time to Relish Salsa

Summer means salsa and relishes. Sweet corn, peaches, summer squash and peppers are everywhere. Turning the season’s bounty into colorful jars of flavored sunshine is both tasty and wise. Plus, they can double as wonderful gifts for friends and family.With ears {of sweet corn} coming out the ears {of farmers & shoppers}, lots of folks are left scratching their heads of what to do with all of it. The season begins with those first golden cobs steamed and slathered in melted butter. The recipe storming social media, magazines and food sections of newspapers this corn season is elote, Mexican street corn slathered in mayonnaise, butter, cheese, lime juice, chili powder and fresh cilantro. For a less messy version, try this recipe that cuts the roasted corn off the cob which is what I like to do. By now, you might be asking yourself, “What am I going to do with all this corn?”The central Pennsylvania right-of-passage has always been puttin’ up or freezing corn so there would be plenty come the winter holidays for baked corn. Families would purchase truckloads of fresh sweet corn and make an afternoon of shucking, cleaning, blanching, cutting, and canning/bagging, each going home with enough to {hopefully} last until the next season.Having lived on both coasts, I’ve noticed that salsas and relishes have similar base vegetables yet are prepared according to regional tastes. Starting with cut fresh corn, onion, tomato and peppers, the westerners add in lime juice, cilantro and hot peppers while the easterners go for the sweet and sour version with vinegar, sugar and mustard seeds. Spicy peppers are swapped for sweet versions. One is called salsa, the other relish, but both are time-honored ways of using a bountiful harvest.Last week we talked tomatoes, the vegetable that is really a fruit. While fresh salsa (aka: salsa fresca, pico de gallo) comes to mind first, there are plenty of other fruits perfect for tempering the sizzle of summer peppers’ heat.Like peaches…Just as abundant as sweet corn, fresh peaches have taken over the markets. Yellow peaches, white peaches, donut peaches, freestones, cling fruits—take your pick for the show-stopping ingredient in fresh peach salsa. Adding peppers and onions to peaches would have been considered sacrilege in my Pennsylvania Dutch family but having experienced the delicious combination in a variety of ways I can honestly say that nothing compliments a thick pork chop or tuna steak like fresh peach salsa. I even gave this salsa using both corn and peaches a try!However, the foundation for both salsas and relishes are the peppers and onions. Right now, at the markets there is a veritable rainbow of peppers. Take your pick. Want in on a market secret? Sometimes there are imposters, typically hot peppers such as jalapeño or habanero, that contain no heat, but all the flavor. Ask your farmer if you are uncertain.Where would we be without onions? We started out in spring with ramps, marching through to summer with green onions, leeks and on to fresh onions—white, yellow and red. It’s garlic and shallot season, too. Each has their own flavor and texture. Similar to peppers, some can be hot and others sweet.Although individual varieties are bred for different levels of heat, both peppers’ and onions’ spiciness are also dependent upon their environments. For example, onions grown in one soil type may produce very sweet onions that don’t make you cry when you cut them, yet others will have your eyes stinging so badly you won’t be able to see through your tears for an hour after you’ve made the first cut.Peppers develop more capsaicin {the chemical that makes them hot) when the plants are stressed from a hot growing climate. Want hotter peppers? Grow them in full sun, cut back on water and fertilizer, and let them mature to red on the plant. That’s why peppers native to hot environments are the spiciest. In both peppers and onions, these traits are natural defenses, but that’s not going to deter me from whipping up a couple of batches of fresh salsa and relish this season.