Salsa

Dancers from Vineland, N.J., participate in yesterday's Puerto Rican Day Parade in Center City. Thousands of people, including Leila Sanchez, 5, and her dad, Hector (right), enjoyed the floats and bands. "Mucha, mucha salsa," said Councilman Angel Ortiz. Among the marchers were Mayor Rendell, state Rep. Benjamin Ramos and City Councilman Richard Mariano.

When food-industry analysts announced that the dollar amount of salsa sales had surpassed those of ketchup in 1991, it was like the crack of a starter pistol. The race was on. Now there are not only an estimated 2,000 Mexican-style sauces being marketed nationwide, but there is also a new wave of chili-seasoned foods on the market that reflects the Mexican-salsa influence. Campbell's has its salsa-flavored tomato drink - V8 Picante Vegetable Juice - spiked with jalapenos and lime.

Crowds flocked to Penn's Landing over the weekend for the Hispanic Fiesta sponsored by the Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations. The rhythms of salsa, mariachi and merengue music filled the air, and foods from Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Argentina filled visitors' stomachs. Other events included a Pan American Children's Pageant and a Parade of Flags representing Latin American countries. Hand-crafted items, jewelry and souvenirs were sold at booths.

You don't have to be Latino to enjoy two high-energy Puerto Rican Festival Week events this weekend. But it will help if you like to dance. Three full orchestras and six supporting acts - all local talent - will gather tomorrow at an all-day block party (from noon to 9 p.m.) to help dedicate the new home of the Latin American Musicians Association (called AMLA after its Spanish initials), at Fifth and Somerset Streets. The bands at tomorrow's party include the brassy salsa orchestras Salseate (Salsa You)

Bienvenidos al barrio de los hermanos Sanchez. Here, near the corner of Fifth and Somerset Streets, where their family lived above a botanica, is the world where the Sanchez brothers were nurtured. Here, Celestino learned to play trombone and bass and Carlos tried out his vocal range. Here, on the street, they heard the sounds of bomba and plena, the traditional rhythms of Puerto Rico, and at home listened to Christmas-time parrandas, when their uncles would play guitar and their mother sang holiday classics from the island.

Tight, fuchsia-colored leather trousers; a stretchy sequined top; sparkling sandals with six-inch heels, and a purple feather boa: Noem? Segarra's costume typified the infectious high spirits of Meri?n Soto's Pepati?n, the 18-year-old, South Bronx-based salsa-dancing company that opened its five-day run at the Annenberg Center's Harold Prince Theatre Tuesday night. A troupe of eight splendid dancers with extraordinarily varied backgrounds, Pepati?n (an invented word made from the names of co-founder and artistic director Soto and her collaborator, visual artist Pep?n Osorio)

And now for something completely different - a full-length animated movie about - you got it - "Vampires in Havana. " The film, which is a joint project of the Cuban Film Institute and Spanish television (there's an odd coupling for you), is roughly on the technical level of early "Rocky and Bullwinkle. " But who cares? The movie is fresh, funny, irreverent, lewd and charming. The plot, as far as I could make out, is about a Cuban vampire's discovery of a formula that eliminates the disastrous effect of the sun on his fellow creatures, the attempt by American gangster vampires to steal it and the attempt by European gangsters to destroy it (they've been developing plans to institute a sunless resort)

The mint is growing in the spaces between the bricks, up the garage wall, behind the trash cans. It is growing out of control. Sound familiar? Here's a solution: a quick salsa of tomatoes, jalapeno chilies and mint. Lots of dishes can be helped along by that combination. This leg of lamb is a particularly simple example. Accompany it with Couscous With Chives. GRILLED LAMB WITH TOMATO-MINT SALSA 1 1/2 pounds boneless lamb, preferably from leg, cut into bite-size chunks 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced Olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped 1 cup lightly packed mint leaves, finely chopped 1/2 cup sliced scallions 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced Pita breads or flour tortillas (optional)

Whether you express it as "la reina de la Salsa" or the queen of salsa, it all translates as Celia Cruz. The dazzlingly garbed and coiffed First Lady of that music medium will ignite the stage of the Drexel Biddle Armory, Roosevelt Blvd. & Southampton Rd., when she brings her searing sound to the city, Saturday at 9 p.m. The legendary Cruz will be joined on the bandstand by Jose "El Canario" Alberto, New York's Esteban y Los Diplomaticos del Merengue and local artists Foto Rodriguez y La Unica.

On certain dance floors, your moves - awkward, old-fashioned or sexy - can bring stares. But on Sunday nights at the First District Plaza Ballroom, you can salsa uninhibited. Buster Adams needed "to find a way to provide my students and fellow salseros a place to socially dance in an easily accessible area," said the promoter of the twice-a-month event and a full-time dance instructor in University City. For the last two years, Adams and his group, the Latin Nation Dance Company, have hosted Latin events in the city, most recently at MarBar on Sundays.

It's tucked away on the easy-to-miss one-way drive of West Cypress Street in Kennett Square, but La Peña Mexicana has a paint job that's impossible to miss, its shedlike buildings striped like a bumblebee draped in a Mexican flag. Now that I've been inside this modest, five-year-old taquería (with roots in the northern coastal state of Guerrero), its food shouldn't be missed, either, as it's one of the best authentic Mexican kitchens in our region. Adventure diners should go for a super-crisp chimichanga stuffed with tongue or cabeza.

What to eat: Gourmet grilled cheese, or "brown-bagged meltyness," as owner Alan Krawitz likes to call it. Don't miss: Building your own sammie for $5 to $6 with such saliva-stirring add-ons as buffalo sauce, salsa, blue-cheese dressing, avocado, bacon and fried onions. On the menu: Goodies like the Mary D ("Grandma's meatballs meet grilled cheese"); the Presto Pesto (chicken topped with pesto, provolone, spinach and tomato); El Duke (sirloin chip steak topped with jalapeño jack cheese, salsa, refried beans and avocado)

Try this Carne Asada with a punchy marinade of lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Carne Asada With Salsa Makes 6 servings For the meat: 2 pounds sirloin tips 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 cloves garlic, smashed For the salsa: 1 yellow bell pepper, cored...

Red hot gala Cooper University Hospital's Cooper Foundation held its first Red Hot Gala Saturday at the Hyatt Regency at Penn's Landing, raising more than $1 million. George E. Norcross III, hospital board chair, and his wife, Sandy, were the benefit's honorary chairs. More than 800 guests enjoyed a performance by Camden's Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble, dancing to the Infernos, and special Coopertini cocktails. Susan Bass Levin, Cooper Foundation president and chief executive officer; Dr. Michael Goldberg and his wife, Melody; and Dr. Amanda Burden and her husband, Guy Aiman, served as gala cochairs.

Saturday, Oct. 23 Harvest winemaker's dinner , five-course meal of French cuisine from the Alsace wine region with wine pairings and discussion from Crossing Vineyard representatives. $89 plus tax and gratuity. 7:30 p.m. at Crossing Vineyards, 1853 Wrightstown Rd., Washington Crossing. Reservations at crossingvineyards.com or 215-493-6500, Ext. 19. Sunday, Oct. 24 Appetite for Awareness: a Gluten-Free Cooking Spree , features an array of gluten-free dishes for sampling prepared by top area chefs; open bar with gluten-free beer and wine; marketplace with products from gluten-free vendors.

Tomatillos might look like small, underripe tomatoes beneath their paperlike husks, but unwrap them and you will find firm, slightly sticky flesh with a scent similar to freshly picked herbs. Though the almost crunchy texture and tart, citrusy flavor are reminiscent of a green tomato and the name means "small tomato" in Spanish, the tomatillo (toe-mah-TEE-yoh) is a separate member of the same nightshade family. Tomatillos are most often used, raw or cooked (grilled, roasted, or blanched)

It's easy to see why salsa is one of America's favorite condiments. Its fresh, crisp, tangy flavor adds a refreshing touch to a meal without a lot of sugar or fat. This bright pineapple salsa brings out the flavors of grilled fresh fish, and aromatic cumin gives it a distinctive taste. The poblano peppers, called ancho peppers when dried, that give the rice dish its zing, are medium-hot.   Fish With Pineapple Salsa and Poblano Rice Makes two servings . 1. Combine the tomato, onion, poblano pepper, pineapple, cilantro, sugar, and cumin.

I left Oaxaca, Mexico, still hearing mariachi music and tasting cinnamon chocolate and fiery mezcal, but my most vivid memory would have to be the altars. On the streets, in the plazas, in restaurants, hotels, and homes, they were decorated with flowers (mostly marigolds), colored sand, and foods to honor and lovingly remember the dead. For me, experiencing D?a de Muertos (Day of the Dead) was more than soaking up the local culture. It was very personal. I celebrated, anonymously and privately, the life of my daughter, Lisa, who left this world nine years ago in October.

My life as a dancer came tucked in a nondescript white envelope perched on a Christmas tree branch. Chris, my husband of 27 years - and a man not generally known for grand romantic gestures - had, amazingly, given me a gift of ballroom dance lessons. And so we, lifelong nondancers, began to waltz, more or less, in a herky-jerky, learn-to-drive-stick-shift sort of way. But it was fun. Kind of like a date. Our second month in, we recruited our friends Betsy and Earl Moyer, who had visions of dancing at their son's wedding.

When your garden kicks into produce overdrive, there's nothing like salsa to absorb the bounty. Throw the ingredients in the food processor and pulse a few times - that's all there is to it. Here are two versions of the classic Italian "green sauce" that will put your fresh-grown herbs to tasty use, plus several other salsa recipes with unexpected ingredients such as plums and curry. These boldly flavored sauces can be used as a dip or to accompany grilled fish, chicken or lamb dishes.