Peppers and More » Salsa and Dip Reviews

Scott’s Best Spicy Products of 2011

Scott Roberts — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

The following are items and companies I've chosen as featuring the best that have been released or that I've encountered for the first time during the 2011 calendar year. To qualify, this product either had to be released after January 1, 2011 or I would have tasted it for the very first time in the past year. Believe me, there were dozens of worthy sauces, seasonings and food enhancers I would have loved to include and so many product manufacturers that deserved a mention. But I had to narrow it down to the creme de la creme and give the "Scottvies" (with apologies to Dave DeWitt) to my top choices in each category.

Please bear with me as I speak with an upper respiratory infection. I hope my scratchy voice isn't too annoying to listen to, especially as it gets later into the video.... Continue reading →

Little Willie’s Grenade Salsa – Pineapple – Mango

John Z — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 23:16:23 +0000

Ingredients: Pineapple, Mangoes, Onion, Carrots, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Lime Juice, Canola Oil, Garlic, Sugar, Salt, Habanero Chilies, Natural Gum, Cilantro, Spices. Appearance: The sauce looks good in the bottle. The color is a golden pineapple yellow, with nice sized chunks of yellow pineapple, orange mango , and orange carrot visible.The sauce has a great texture. It is not too thick, or too thin. The size of the bottle is good for dipping the salsa out with a spoon. The bottle is too small to dip chips directly into the salsa.The label is nicely done, with bright colors and photos of pineapples and mangoes.This salsa is All Natural, has No Preservatives, and is Fat Free. Aroma: This salsa has a wonderful, slightly smoky aroma of pineapple, mango, onion, and garlic. There is no doubt that pineapple is the major ingredient. Taste: Excellent. Right up front, you get the pineapple, followed by the mango and onion taste, with a hint of garlic.The salsa is not overly sweet, but more savory and rich tasting. You get great little chunks of pineapple, mango, and carrot in each bite. The habanero peppers kick in after the initial taste. They are just right. They have a sharpness, and heat, that balances nicely with the pineapple. They are not overly hot, but you sure know they are there ! The salsa is labeled "mild," which works well for pepper lovers. However, that mild label might get your granny in trouble, LOL. There is enough heat to make the salsa a bit strong for folks who do not like hot and spicy foods. However, the drawing of "Little Willie" on the label will hopefully make folks think twice about the "mild" wording ! Continue reading →

Splendid Spreads……

Peppers and More — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:20:21 +0000

Mexican Stlye Salmon Spread.. Ingredients..Salmon,(tomatoes, juice,Citric acid,Calcium Chloride) Water,Black beans,onions,corn,white vinegar,green bell peppers,sugar,jalapeno peppers tomato paste,garlic,Contains less than 2% of corn starch,salt,citric acid,lime juice,spices * All Salmon is farm raised

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TORTUGA “Mango & Ginger”Stir Fry Sauce

Marv Lattin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:56:26 +0000

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Datil Sensation Datilicious Salsa……

Scott Roberts — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:01:47 +0000

The highly underrated datil pepper is commonly known for two things. One, it is similar both in terms of heat level and fruity flavor to most habaneros (the later of which is my favorite of the super-hot peppers). Two, most of the datil peppers in the world are grown in the St. Augustine, Florida area - in fact, the town holds its own Datil Pepper Festival every year. Wayne King of the small eastern Tennessee burg of Blountville also grows these types of chiles and uses them as the base ingredients for a plethora of condiments and jams under the name of Datil Sensation. He recently sent me a large sampling of these products for me to test and review, the first of which is called Datilicious Salsa. Continue reading →

Salsa From the GUT Smokey Habanero x2 Hot

BWSmith — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:07:02 +0000

Appearance: This salsa has darker color than most commercial brands. From the moment you open it, you can see how complex it is. It is teaming with ingredients, spices, and herbs. Perfectly sized chunks of tomatoes are mixed with fairly … Continue reading →

Mango Inferno by Patter Fam

BWSmith — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:06:19 +0000

Mango Inferno by Patter Fam

Label: Mango Inferno from the kitchen of Patter Fam Sauces has a light and understated label. The green, yellow, and red mangos hover above some thin and pointy flames. The color scheme of the rest of the bottle follows the lead and the use of yellows, oranges and reds compliment the sauce very well. You can tell a great deal of thought went into bring the overall look of this product together. Continue reading →

“PACE” 2, Going Green

Marv Lattin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:10:31 +0000

With Pace being known for years for it's tomato based salsas & picante sauces, and with growing desire for chiles & heat in recent years, the company has made many specialty sauces like this one, salsa verde. Continue reading →

Crazy Steve’s Pickles and Salsa

Scott Roberts — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:47:22 +0000

Here comes Crazy Steve's Pickles and Salsa, a young New Jersey company hatched at 11:49 am on July 17, 2009 (as each and every label clearly states!) after an extraordinarily fruitful harvest from a cucumber garden. Steve Zielinski borrowed treasured pickling recipes from his grandmother, branched off into making salsas, and only 10 months later has an extensive live of side-items and condiments.

Steve was gracious enough to send me four different products of his for me to test drive. I have to mention that while all of the salsas I reviewed are marked "insane", a fourth heat level above mild, medium and hot, I though none of these contained extraordinary heat (I explain more below). I don't know if this was a label mix-up or if the "insane" salsas are legitimately that mild, but if the later were true then even non-spice fans could handle these salsas with very little difficulty.... Continue reading →

Texas Grim Reaper Corn Relish…….

Jersey Boyz Jerky — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:06:47 +0000

Texas Grim Reaper Corn Relish

Ingredients....Corn,Vinegar,Sugar,Bell Peppers,Onion,Celery,Water,Corn Starch,Dried Red Pepper,Cilantro,Garlic and Citric Acid.... Aroma....Right away i was reminded of the smell of my grandmothers pickled Celery.There was a great smell of corn celery and Onions that hit your right away.After a few deep breaths you can pick up the Bell Peppers and just a hint of the cilantro.At this point i could not wait to get the spoon... Continue reading →

Peppadew Mango Salsa with Peppadew Fruit

Scott Roberts — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:50 +0000

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Made with the Peppadew pepper, a bright red, cherry-tomato-sized, sweet n' spicy fruit originating from South Africa, Peppadew Mango Salsa sounds like it would be a peculiar and promising condiment and topping "on paper", but in my opinion it's mildly disappointing after putting it through its paces in the kitchen.

It's not that it's necessarily bad - it's not, but the overall taste is only a notch or two above "hum drum"... Continue reading →

Picking up the “PACE” part 1

Marv Lattin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:16:00 +0000

The origination of Pace Picante Sauce. It started by a Texan named David Pace in 1947, Who had a passion for the freshest tasting picante sauce that lived up to his expectations. Continue reading →

Pyro Pete Sauces Ultimate Salsa

Scott Roberts — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:00:57 +0000

I'm always pleased when a local St. Louis area spicy food practitioner jumps into the arena of fiery consumables. This time out it's Pyro Pete Sauces & Rubs based out of North St. Louis County. Recently, owner "Pyro" Pete McNees has kindly provided some of his Ultimate Salsa for me to take a stab at assessing. Will it prove to be the pentacle of salsa satisfaction as the name of it might suggest or will it be a hum-drum condiment and dip that sputters out? Read on to find out... Continue reading →

Captain Thom’s Slappin’ Fat Bacon Ketchup

Scott Roberts — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:00:28 +0000

I'm putting my foot down: I will NOT partake in the the current bacon craze/meme/fad. If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about, it's the trend where seemingly everyone is going bonkers over bacon-flavored and bacon-themed everything. Just move two inches on the internet and you're sure to bump into some website touting something as ridiculous as bacon-flavored Kool-Aid, bacon-wrapped bacon on a stick, or bacon-scented cologne with throngs of commentors and forum members applauding along in approval like zombies. Sure, bacon has its place in the culinary world, but there are numerous other foods and tastes I'd select anyday over these cured strips of pork.

That having been said, I still wanted to give the new Captain Thom's Slappin' Fat Bacon Ketchup a shot. Captain Thom Edwards usually has a good handle on what makes sauces taste superb (his Thai Monkey sauce is one of my faves), so naturally I was intrigued with what he could pull off.... Continue reading →

WICKLES – Hoagie + Sub Sandwich Relish

John Z — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:17:30 +0000

I found this product at my local Walmart in the pickles section. The price there is $4.95. Looking through the jar, we see a nice brick red / orange color, and the relish is loaded with pepper seeds. Closer inspections shows that it is full of 1/8 inch dice Peppers and Cucumbers. In addition, we see on the Ingredients List that the product contains Water, Vinegar, Salt, Phosphoric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Calcium Chloride, Alum, Natural Flavors, & Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sobate as preservatives. Continue reading →

SUGAR & SPICE SWEET SAUCE

chilebrown — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:40:19 +0000

Sugar & Spice has a duo of sauces that will warm the taste buds and delight your senses. Sugar & Spice Sweet Sauce is a “2010 1^stPlace Hot Sauce Scovie award winner.” Carolyn Barrett in her small kitchen has created a sauce that is not a marinade or grilling sauce, but a dipping sauce. This sauce is for dipping. Dipping anything your imagination will desire. It also can be added to salad dressing for a ‘kick up a notch’ treat, Continue reading →

CAJUN CHOW-CHOW – Relish with an attitude !

John Z — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:54:10 +0000

I received a jar of Original Cajun Chow-Chow from the folks at Mossy Bayou Foods. Continue reading →

Little Willie’s Grenade Sauce – Hot

BWSmith — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:29:24 +0000

Little Willie’s Grenade Sauce – Hot Appearance: One of the first things that strikes you is that this doesn’t look like your standard salsa (it says “Sauce”, but it strikes me more as salsa so I will run with it). … Continue reading →

Little Willie’s Grenade Salsa – Pinapple Mango

BWSmith — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:53:28 +0000

Introduction: Let me start by saying right off the bat that I am not a fan of pineapple. The only way I eat it is in Pineapple upsidedown cake. So remember that as we proceed. Appearance: One of the … Continue reading →

Datil Sensation Mania X-Hot Mustard, Indian Summer Hot Ketchup and Tears X-Hot Ketchup

Scott Roberts — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:00:16 +0000

Not too long along I reviewed Datil Sensation's Datilicious Salsa - a salsa I felt that, if you can tolerate a slight burn from the highly underrated datil chiles, is a good change of pace from your commonplace salsas, especially if most of what you purchase are large, nationally-known brands. Here comes more from the Datilicious brand: a spicy mustard called Mania X-Hot Mustard and a pair of fiery ketchups called Indian Summer Hot Ketchup and Tears X-Hot Ketchup. Continue reading →