Review: Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa…
Overall I feel that Peppers has a nice product here. It’s not something that would grab my attention on the shelf, once I read ‘Blue Crab’. But honestly after trying it, I would definitely have it again and won’t snub my nose immediately at a salsa that contains shellfish or any other seafood until I actually give it a try. Go for it! I did
First impression: Right from the get go I was hemming and hawing about doing this review. It’s just that crab salsa didn’t seem to appealing to my palette. But read on folks, and you’ll see what I found out about Peppers Original Blue Crab Salsa! The label itself is quite unassuming on its own. But it sure let’s you know that you are picking up a jar of salsa with crab meat in there”¦ See I just found this to be an odd combination at first. So seeking out a dish that I felt would make me really taste this salsa, I decided upon something simple. NACHOS! I just happened to have some shredded cheese in the fridge and half of a bag of jalapeno tortilla chips! Heating up the toaster oven and preparing my foil dish, I glanced at the ingredients and took note that it was relatively clean, with the exception of the HFCS in the Worcestershire sauce and the hydrolyzed soy and corn protein. I won’t go into detail here about these additives but you can follow this link and read up more on the subject if you prefer”¦http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/soy.htm
You can find this salsa on the Peppers website, at $5.99 for a 12 oz. jar”
Ingredients: diced tomatoes, crab meat, diced green bell peppers, lime juice, chili peppers, Worcestershire sauce (vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic, tamarind extract, cloves, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract, hydrolyzed soy and corn protein), special blend of herbs and spices, salt.
Appearance/Smell/Taste: At first glance through the glass jar, this salsa has a medium red color, and visible are some various chunks of the previously listed ingredients. You can even see little strands of crab meat in there. Hmm, this is going to be an experience for me I can tell you that! So I crack open the lid and take a large inhale. It smells initially of fresh tomatoes! Towards the back I get hints of the sweet green peppers, Worcestershire sauce, and a slight seafood smell. Mind you it’s not an overpowering seafood smell at all. It’s probably right where it should be for a salsa with crab meat. And surprisingly this salsa is actually pretty hearty and thick. I wasn’t sure before I twisted off the cap, it seemed looser in the jar before I opened it. Peppers gets a big thumbs up for this!
So scooping a heap out onto my tasting spoon, I sniff sniff one more time before I give it a taste. Just making sure that I’m matching up what I smell and taste together. The initial flavor that hits my tongue is the tomato flavor, sweetness from the bell peppers, and then a slight tickle of heat that fades in about 5 seconds. I’d say roughly a solid 3 on the HSB heat scale. I thought I saw chili pepper extract in that ingredient list someplace, didn’t I?!? Almost immediately following the dissipating heat is the slight hint of crab meat. It’s very subtle, which is probably why I’m actually enjoying this salsa thus far. But let’s give it the food test to see if it stands up to its initial taste test.
Initial impression: 8/10
Ingredient quality/content: 6/10
Flavor/texture/smell: 9/10
Heat: 4/10
Overall: 6.75/10
Peppers
www.peppers.com
Tanger Factory Outlets
36445 Seaside Outlet Drive
Suite # 1815
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
302/227-4608
peppers@peppers.com
I am surprised that picante and seafood is not common for the reviewer. Where I come from, hot sauce is served with any kind of seafood.
Raw clams, raw pysters and red tabasco is delicious. Blue crab, both hard and soft shell, and crab cakes with red tabasco is delicious. I substitute dried tepin for tabasco with all these.
It’s only a small leap and seems pretty natural to make salsa with crab.
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Yes it’s true I don’t eat salsa with my seafood. lol
Usually when I have seafood I’ll prepare it with basic dry spices or a rub, a little olive oil maybe and perhaps some fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice.
Seeing the combo of crab and salsa together in a jar isn’t something that I personally would associate with a good mix. That’s just me and to each their own, especially depending on what region of the planet you may hail from.
If I were born and raised in Delaware or coastal Maine perhaps I would find this to be a more common pairing.
But alas I have lived mainly inland and now I’ve been residing in North Eastern, PA for the last 8 years.
So yeah, I find it odd that crab meat would be canned with salsa… 🙂
But in the end I did like the product! -Lars-