Our next tasting experiment with the new salsa from Art of Chipotle was this beauty, the Pineapple Mojito Salsa. Pineapple isn’t new to salsas we have tried, but the mojito aspect of this one made it fascinating. This one didn’t have the rum in the recipe, but it did have:
Ingredients: tomatoes, water, pineapple (pineapple, pineapple juice), brown sugar, onions, chipotle paste (dried and smoked jalapeno peppers, tomato paste, water, vinegar, salt, citric acid), tomato paste, spearmint, salt, natural pineapple flavor, xanthan gum, cayenne, natural mint flavor
Mint, spearmint, and pineapple? Not exactly your everyday salsa ingredients, but this is no ordinary salsa.
First impression: Not a salsa to be used strictly with chips. Right away I realized that I had to do something with regard to cooking. Also, this definitely is gourmet salsa. Anyone who typically picks up ‘Pace’ (and actually likes it) at the grocery store would probably intensely dislike this salsa. You have to have a palate discriminating enough to know what to do with this and to whom it could be served. After spooning some of this salsa out onto my sampling utensil, I saw this unique mixture:
Chunks of tomatoes and pineapple are present throughout this sauce. This salsa just screamed to be used with…LAMB!
Taste: You get the mint taste right away. It’s slightly sweet, but in a more natural way with the pineapple, not in an over-sugared kind of way. The tomato flavor is nice, but doesn’t dominate this salsa, believe it or not. It’s extremely fresh tasting and outstandingly unique because of the ingredients. I’ve never tasted another salsa that even comes close.
Overall recommendation: My recommendation, and what I ultimately ended up doing with it, is to use it with Lamb. Joe grilled lambchops. I sauteed onions in a bit of butter, with fresh garlic and pepper until almost caramelized, topped the chops with that and put a couple of spoonfuls of salsa on top. It was magnificent!!! I also believe cilantro would have been a great addition, but I didn’t have any on hand. I think next time I’ll try a lamb sausage for a different texture. I highly recommend this salsa!
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Thanks for your nice review Linda. Like you said… this is not a salsa for everybody and definitely goes beyond chips. We had it with lamb the other day as well… great. It really was a crazy & different new direction, but it worked and we are getting great reviews. I don’t know that I will come up with anything as different as this one, but you never know with my “Schizophrenic” tendencies. Hope you like the Mango Gingersnap too.
Regards,
Tom
Comment fired by Tom Pfleider — April 5, 2007- 11:56 am
Tom, I think the idea is brilliant, with as popular as Mojito is now. It’s funny, but the first time I actually had a mojito was in California when we were, ahem, in a movie that has yet to be released. Anyway, I fell in love with the flavor but would have never thought to incorporate it into a salsa. Keep it up!
I’ll definitely let you know about the Mango Gingersnap. Hmmm…I’m thinking of possibilities before I even open the bottle.
Comment fired by Linda — April 10, 2007- 12:08 am