NORFOLK, Va. — If you're from Hampton Roads, or even Virginia, you probably think it's just a normal part of eating out at a Mexican restaurant.
But that tangy, creamy salsa counterpart you know as 'white sauce' isn't well known, if at all, to the rest of the country.
Locals trace its origins to Norfolk in the 1970s and a restaurant called El Toro.
“That was the only Mexican restaurant at the time,” said Dana Smith-Clifton. “When I was a waitress, we opened at 11 a.m., and there was a lunch rush every day.”
Smith-Clifton grew up working at El Toro as a teenager and is very familiar with the origins of this legendary dip.
“Back then, with a meal we served a side salad,” said Smith-Clifton. “And a little cup was on the side of white sauce…it was our salad dressing.”
It's an ironic delight - really nothing about white sauce is Mexican and none of the workers even came from Mexico when it was first made. But decades later, that hasn't stopped it from becoming a staple at just about every Mexican restaurant in the region.
“I don’t think any restaurant around here not offering the white sauce is going to make it,” said Smith-Clifton.
According to an old newspaper snippet, the recipe to make white sauce at home is:
- 2 cups Miracle Whip
- ½ cup milk
- ½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons oregano
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
After mixing all of the ingredients, you should let the sauce sit in the refrigerator for two days before serving so the flavors can meld.