Robert J. Pavuchak, Post-Gazette Arturo Vizzuett gives his daughter Isabella, 6, a taste of his chunky style roasted tomatillo salsa, which he makes and markets as Cinco de Mayo salsa in Monongahela. Click photo for larger image.

If you drive by the Twist ice cream parlor in New Eagle between 2 and 3 in the morning and see smoke coming from the building, it's probably not on fire. More likely, it's Arturo Vizzuett cooking batches of his tasty salsas.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Vizzuett, 42, learned the basics of Mexican cuisine as a boy by shopping each day for ingredients that went into his family's main meal and by watching his grandmother and mother prepare salsas and other Mexican foods using centuries-old recipes.

"In the U.S., salsas are used mainly as dips for corn chips," he said. "In Mexico, they're used as an essential condiment for whatever you're having for dinner, be it pork, chicken, beef or seafood. For millions of Mexicans, it's essential to have a bowl of salsa sitting in the middle of the table at dinner."

It's a long way from Mexico City to his house in Monongahela, and Vizzuett's continent jump is as roundabout as it is interesting. At 17, he moved to the popular resort town of Cancun on the Caribbean Sea. While waiting tables at Cancun's Papagallo restaurant in 1985, he met his future wife, Sherri, who was vacationing from Monongahela.

The two exchanged addresses, then corresponded. Sherri also made several follow-up trips to Cancun and, on one of them, the couple decided they wanted to spend more time together.

Eventually, Sherri moved to Cancun and remained there for about a year until she got a phone call from home saying a friend was terribly sick.

"We both decided to return to Western Pennsylvania for about a month to be near her friend," Vizzuett said. "Instead, we ended up staying 17 years."

Married in 1987, the Vizzuetts inherited Sherri's family's ice cream parlor in the mid-1990s and have been struggling to make a go of the business since. Their life was significantly affected about five years ago while on a visit to their cabin in Linn Run State Park, near Ligonier, where they came across a flier advertising the local farmers market.

"From out of the blue, Sherri said it would be a good place to sell my homemade salsas," Vizzuett said. "I was skeptical at first, but she insisted, and I told her, 'OK I'll make them, but you'll have to sell them.' "

Sherri went off with the first batches of salsa and phoned an hour later to say she'd sold the entire stock. Five years later, Vizzuett is selling 12 kinds of salsas at nine farmers markets and marketing them to several stores.

"I used to have trouble getting some of the ingredients to make my salsas, especially several kinds of chiles," he said. "My brother used to send me several dried chiles from home, and I would bring some back every time I visit my family in Mexico. Right, now, however, I can buy just about anything I need in the Mexican section of mega food stores in the area."

Catering to American tastes, Vizzuett tries to make his salsas in the moderately hot range. His best seller, Fresca, is made of roasted tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onions, cilantro and a variety of fresh and dry chiles. He describes Ranchero, his hottest product, as velvety smooth but packing a pungent punch.

Mango chutney, another popular item, is made from fresh mangoes and is recommended as an accompaniment to chicken, pork tenderloin and lamb. The inventory also includes roasted tomatillo, roasted chipotle and Aunt Carmella's black bean dip, all of which can be sampled with corn chips at any of the farmers markets he sets up shop.

"Nine out of 10 people who taste my salsas usually end up buying some," he said.

All of Vizzuett's salsas are preservative-free and are marketed in 16-ounce plastic deli containers for $5 each under the Cinco de Mayo label. Although the last farmers market he was involved in ended at the end of November, his salsas are available in the Pittsburgh's Strip District. Patrons can find Vizzuett outside Enrico Biscotti's at Penn Avenue and 21st Street from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. In Peters, eight of his salsas are sold at The Market Place at 210 Valley Brook Road.

"Cinco De Mayo salsas are the freshest I've ever tasted," said Joel Hinton, store manager. "Customers who've visited Mexico say they're like being able to have traditional south-of-the-border flavors right here in the U.S."

With a wife and two daughters, Isabella Rose, 6, and Olivia Marie, 2, to support, Vizzuett hopes to expand his business in the near future.

"I feel I'm on to a hot commodity and am looking for investors to help finance future growth," he said.

For more information on Cinco De Mayo salsas, call Vizzuett at 724-258-3485.