Salsa Bobos is laden with large chunks of tomato, black beans and kernels of corn. Behind it, Cowpoke Artichoke Salsa. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE. WHAT IT IS: Gourmet salsas. WHY IT’S DIFFERENT: Twenty-three different flavors, mostly tomato-based, each truly different from the rest. WHY WE LOVE IT: Top-quality ingredients and mouth-watering recipes. Plus, the wide range of choices means that no matter how much you love salsa, you’ll equally love the anticipation of discovering something new. PURCHASE AT: JardineFoods.com.

Jardine’s Gourmet Salsa: Salsa To Dance About Page 3: Salsa Varieties   This is Page 3 of an eight-page review. Click on the black links below to visit other pages. INDEX OF REVIEW Page 1: Capsule Report Page 1: Overview Page 2: Types Of Mexican Salsa Page 3: Jardine’s Salsa Varieties Page 4: Jardine’s Hearty Salsas Page 5: Jardine’s Fruit Salsas & Quesos (Cheese Sauces) Page 6: Global Salsa Recipes & Other Ideas Page 7: Buy Jardine’s Salsa Online Page 8: Cooking With Salsa—Recipes MORE TO DISCOVER Salsa Glossary History of Salsa Other NIBBLE Salsa Articles

Varieties of Jardine’s Salsa

Jardine Foods, established in 1979, was one of the half-dozen or so salsa pioneers to follow the lead of Dave Pace—in fact, the company named one of its first products, Texacante Salsa, in  honor of Pace’s Picante Sauce. A producer of premium Southwestern foods, Jardine’s makes salsas for a variety of well-known brands and private labels in addition to an extensive line under their own name. Their delicious and varied salsas caught our eye at industry food shows. The recipe development is impressive—each of the 23 salsas and dips has a true raison d’etre. The line stands head and shoulders above the others in terms of quality, breadth and depth. While we have other favorite salsas, no other collection offers so many exquisitely delicious choices. Thus, while most Americans can run to the nearest store and buy a decent jar of salsa, D.L. Jardine’s Special Edition Salsas are that much more special, and worth seeking out. Like any “best of the best” food, the superiority is apparent from the first bite.

Red salsas are more American than Mexican. While northern Mexican regions make tomato-based salsas, much of the country serves salsa verde, a green salsa that focuses on the flavor of the chile, plus tomatillos and spices.

There are 23 salsas in the D. L. Jardine’s line—enough flavors to keep anyone in salsa exploration mode for quite some time. The company keeps on top of flavor trends and comes out with new recipes regularly—most recently, Pomegranate Salsa, which isn’t even in the latest catalog or on the website yet (just call). Pineapple Chipotle was the prior addition. The newer recipes show the fusion of global ingredients—pomegranates from the Middle East, mangos from India, peaches from China, artichokes and olives from the Mediterranean, pineapples from the Amazon rainforest. (See an extensive list of global salsa recipe ideas below.)

Each salsa variety has its own mouthfeel that is influenced by the ingredients, texture and heat of the particular chile(s). Almost all of Jardine’s salsas are medium heat; two are hot and two are mild. Most of the line is salsa roja, red salsa.

A note on the jars warns that the salsa must be refrigerated after opening for safekeeping. How long can an open jar last? It could be two to three weeks or longer, depending on how long the salsa was sitting out before it was refrigerated.

Hearty Salsas	Fruit Salsas	Quesos
Cilantro Green Olive [2] Cilantro Lime [2] Cowpoke Artichoke Frijole Chipotle Habañero [3] Olé Chipotle Roasted Garlic Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Bobos Salsa Verde Texacante	Cowboy Cherry Cranberry Orange Mango Mariachi Peach Pineapple Pineapple Chipotle Pomegranate Raspberry Raspberry Chardonnay [2] Raspberry Chipotle	Queso Caliente [4] Queso Loco       [2] Mild [3] XXX Hot [4] Hot All other sauces are Medium

The best sellers in the line are Peach Salsa, Salsa Bobos and Queso Loco. We tasted a dozen salsas, including the top three. Our notes follow, and we’ve thrown in a few extra notes from a prior sampling. Our own top three would have to include Salsa Bobos, Pineapple Chipotle and Cowpoke Artichoke or Frijole Chipotle. But we wouldn’t want to leave behind Pomegranate or Raspberry Chipotle, now that we’ve worked them into recipes; and we plan to serve Cranberry Orange at Thanksgiving. But, at $6.25 per 16-ounce bottle, there’s no need to make trade-offs.

Go To Page 4: Jardine’s Hearty Salsas

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