Marco’s Not Yet Famous Salsa

I found Marco’s on The Hot Pepper forums. Since these products are made in Maryland, I was anxious to try them out!

Wifey stopped into M.O.M.’s in Frederick, MD, and got us a bunch of Marco’s products. This salsa is the first we have tried.

This is “Marco’s Not Yet Famous Roasted Vegetable Salsa - Medium”. It comes in a 12-oz. “pint jar”. Hmmm.

While this salsa is very fresh tasting for “jarred” salsa, and it does offer a “hit” of something different when you first taste it… we quickly realized what was so unique was the “special blend of herbs” listed at the end of the ingredients.

Turns out, they are probably a simple blend of italian herbs… giving this chunky salsa a nice flavor, but it leans so far towards the italian flavor profile, that it would be hard for us to crave it when we want a good jarred salsa in a pinch.

The jar features a sticker emblazoned with the words “2007 Scovie awards WINNER“. An awesome award to be sure! But in reality, the label should have added “3rd Place Salsa - Unique”. Unique it is, but I wonder how much of this italian herbed salsa we could enjoy.

Ingredients:

diced tomatoes, roasted green chilies, cider vinegar, roasted onion, roasted garlic, roasted red bell peppers, roasted jalapenos, salt, canola oil, orange juice, lime juice, habanero chiles, sugar, a special blend of herbs.

The label on the back of the jar reads:

Bursting with fine roasted red peppers, green chilies… garlic… and fresh herbs, our MEDIUM variety is for those that like moderate heat and lots of flavor.

While it’s true the taste is very fresh, even the MEDIUM is not nearly hot enough for a chile-head like me. Marco’s website states that a HOT version was due out in March 2007, but it was not on the shelves at M.O.M.’s in Frederick, Md.