Many native residents of the
Sonoran Mexico region explain that the salsa is thus named because the
serrano pepper resembles a rooster's beak in shape. According to
food writer Sharon Tyler Herbst,
pico de gallo ('rooster's beak') is named thus because originally people ate it by pinching pieces between the
thumb and
forefinger. In their book
Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico,
Rick Bayless and
Deann Groen speculate that the name might allude to the
bird-feed—like texture and appearance of the mince. ==See also==