For me, reviewing salsas are a lot of fun. Being an avid salsa aficionado (they are the most popular condiment in America now, y’know), I know what I like…and it’s a pretty simple formula.

Must smell good. Must taste good. The “hot” salsas should actually be hot and spicy.

I’ve been on something of a guilt-trip of late for letting the review on these great salsas go so long without posting. I was suitably impressed enough with the Aji Rocoto hot sauce from Rancho Bravo, so I was fairly sure that their salsas would not disappoint either. So, here it comes to pass that I’ve nearly polished off 4 jars of the Rancho Bravo salsas without so much as writing a word about them. Bad reviewer!

On the surface, these salsas have a lot going for them. First, the ingredients are completely natural and have no additives, preservatives, or any other shelf-stabilizing stuff added to them. I used to think that the additives issue was mostly an American thing since we eat so many shelf-stable products from our grocery stores, but I know that it’s not strictly the case. That said, I’ve seen more International products who make more natural products of late, and I hope that that trend continues. These salsas actually hail from the Rancho Bravo farms in Peru and are distributed through the state of Salsa…I mean, Texas.

Another nice feature is that there’s a range of heat levels to satisfy everyone but the most die-hard chilehead who has to have their salsa burn their tastebuds off. From mild to extra-hot, you can enjoy what you like.

That said, I set about the task of making some tasting notes about these salsas. Scanning the bottle, they feature that same sorta neo-retro label and these ingredients for all 4 salsas:

Salsa Picante ingredients: fresh tomatoes, fresh tomato puree, red onions, peruvian limo pepper (aji limo), red and green bell pepper, garlic, red wine vinegar, cilantro, selected spices

Obviously, they merely tweak the amount of aji limo to add extra heat to their salsas, as none of the other ingredients offers any heat. Aside from being a South American pepper, I didn’t know too terribly much about the aji limo. Graeme Caselton of the Chile-Heads website has this blurb about them:

Although this variety is referred to as the Aji Limo, the word ‘Limo’ has no real meaning nor translation and is a regional identification name given to it by the local people. The pod is small and measures 2 to 3 inches long by 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Aji Limo has a red and yellow pod colour that ripens into a deep red, yellow or orange colour. When dried, this Aji becomes tapered and wrinkled. It is mostly grown and used on the northern coast of Peru. (Capsicum chinense). Heat level is 7.

Roughly the heat level of a cayenne pepper, so even the “extra hot” was not going to be hotter than cayenne peppers would be straight off the plant.

Mild salsa: This is the base salsa, both in terms of flavor and taste. Rich aroma of tomatoes, garlic, and onions. Just a hint of tartness from the vinegar, but very smooth finish. The salsa itself is of medium thickness with medium-diced onions and tomatoes throughout. The garlic and cilantro flavor really maintains with this salsa, despite having had this jar open for a few weeks now. So what does it lack? You guessed it…heat. To me, this is the quintessential definition of mild. In fact, I’d give it a 1/10 for heat at most. All flavor and no heat. Could be baby food for chilehead kids. While good for chip & dip snacking, I liked cooking with this one to make best use of the flavor.

Medium salsa: Virtually the same flavor profile as the Mild salsa, but with a tingle of heat. I do mean just a tingle, perhaps a 2/10 for heat on my personal heat scale as there’s a hint of spiciness that lingers on your palate after you eat this salsa. I can’t say much more about this one than I did for the mild version, but it was a step in the right direction to balance heat and flavor. The above picture is some baked blackened fish topped with two tablespoons of this salsa. It goes great with lighter meats and fish like this, and I recommend it highly for that.

Hot salsa: Again, the overall taste and texture for this salsa mirrors the less hot versions of it…but the heat is more along the lines of a jalapeno. One thing I noticed with this one is that the salsa’s flavor profile seems to benefit, rather than being adversely affected, by ratcheting up the heat. Not many salsas can make this claim, but this one can. This was my preferred chip & dip snacking salsa, and also the first jar that was polished off here at the “tasting lab” that is our kitchen. The only bad thing I can say about this salsa was that the cilantro “bite” seemed a little less than the milder ones, but still a good, solid salsa.

Extra-hot salsa: Salsa es muy bueno! While ostensibly the same sorta salsa combination as all the rest, this one seems a little chunkier to me than the others. The heat, while being their max level, is not blow-torch hot…more of a building simmer. I really felt the 6/10 heat the most after several mouthfuls, and then just enjoyed the nice capsaicin burn. This is the one salsa I would be most likely to buy again, as it was my best mix of flavor and heat. As I tend to eat a lot of egg scrambles for breakfast (for ease of preparation), this was my salsa of choice with that for about a week’s worth of breakfasts. You can see the picture above for my great salsa-egg breakfast scramble. Yum!

Overall recommendation: These salsas don’t re-invent the wheel by any stretch, but these are all solid salsas that I would be likely to purchase again if available on my grocery store shelves over some of the other choices. Of my three “tests,” they really do pass 2 out of three. For taste and smell, they are top-notch. For heat, they do lack that burn I come to expect in my salsas, and that’s my only down-check I can say. Thick, tasty, and with great utility in other dishes, these salsa are well worth your effort to try them. Excuse me while I go scrape the jars for that last bit of salsa for my next meal. Enjoy!