White Girl Salsa sent me two flavors of their salsa, in both hot and cranberry mango. This excited me for a few reasons. The salsa has a base made mainly of tomatillo, and if there's anything I love more than regular salsa, it's salsa verde. And the idea of a tomatillo based salsa flavored with cranberries and mangoes intrigued me even more.
I was disappointed to discover that the cranberry mango salsa, to me, didn't really provide an accurate embodiment of what a salsa ought to be. This was delicious and had a lot of fresh flavors and fruitiness, but really tasted like more of a chutney-minus-vinegar than anything else. The tomatillo flavor was too weak in the salsa and was bumped out by the dueling forces of mango and cranberry, which tasted jammy and lush. More peppers, spice, and onions would have made this memorable and provided a savory accent for the fruits. Since this condiment is lacking some of the main features that make good salsa appealing, I wouldn't consider it an appropriate dip for chips.
The hot flavor was excellent. I didn't feel the heat of the chilies at first, and only got a nice, salty freshness, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks. A warm and mouthwatering spice flooded my senses, forcing me to run for some water and then run back for more. This flavor was fantastic. I loved it. Unfortunately, there was something a little off-putting about both varieties of this salsa.I was just standing with my girlfriend in the kitchen, eating the salsa on some blue corn chips, when I suddenly felt myself become embarrassingly wet. Liquid pooled all over my fingers, and it seemed to be coming from the chip. There was so much water emanating from this salsa that I had to wash my fingers after a few bites. After pouring some on the chips and letting them sit for a few minutes, a reasonable timeframe for eating a snack, the chips were mushy and soft and there was a lot of excess liquid at the bottom of the dish.
Rivulets of excess liquid cascade down the chip.A snack like chips and salsa is not a fork and knife affair. It's meant to be consumed with friends, while relaxing and hanging out. Not only does this salsa completely shift the focus from socializing to making sure you don't make a huge mess, it is impossible to eat these without using the jar as a feeding trough and getting some salsa juice on your shirt. It's a major buzzkill for an event, and I would definitely not serve this to friends without giving them lobster bibs first.
However, that's not to say that this wouldn't make a delicious enchilada sauce or mix-in with cream cheese or black beans. If this had been labeled as a taco sauce, I'd have skipped over complaining about the texture entirely. I just don't feel as though its marketing provides an honest depiction of what's in the jar and is misleading for people who would have bought this under the guise of its ease in consumption.
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