Find the key to your next great salsa in the fruit aisle

Who gets to wag the proverbial finger at what should or shouldn’t play a part in a Mexican person’s kitchen or gastronomical expressions? It‘s a similar idea behind the mango salsa Alexa Soto included in her Mexican vegan cookbook “Plantas” — akin to a salsa bandera with the creamy addition of avocado. Ancho Strawberry Salsa Time 20 minutes Yields 1 1/2 cups They may not be the most common salsas you’ll find, but as Gonzalez says, “Fruit salsas have definitely earned their place in regional cooking.” In Charapan, Michoacán, where his tias live, Gonzalez says they crush together salsas in molcajetes with manzana criolla, a local apple varietal, instead of or along with tomatillo. “So for me, using fruits like apples, quince or even tsïtuni demonstrates yet another shining example of the ingenuity of our communities’ cooks.” In Sonora, salsa company La Mezcla makes a papaya habanero salsa; in Tequila, Jalisco, salsa made with yellow plum is pounded down in the molcajete for tacos; and in Gonzalo Guzmán’s cookbook “Nopalito,” the salsa borracha calls for apple juice. In my own kitchen I’ve added to the repertoire of fruit salsas with a red cherry or plum pico de gallo, inspired by stone fruit season, and a macerated strawberry ancho salsa inspired by Tacos 1986 and Flamingo Estate’s limited-edition dried guajillo strawberries — a luxury candy reminiscent of Mexican dried fruit covered in chile.