Review of New Pace Salsas

Pace has a new line of salsas on the grocery shelves.

I reviewed their Triple Pepper Salsa here – so you can read my gushing review of this mass-produced jarred salsa, but here you’ll see why I’m not so keen on these other 3 varieties reviewed here.

Let’s start with my 2nd least favorite of this bunch:

Pace Salsa Verde: OK, the jar reads:

“The smoked Spanish paprika that spikes this concoction is not the bland stuff you typically see around.” [But the paprika is indiscernible and in fact bland.] “… we use it to give chunks of tomatillo splashed with lime a unique and unforgettable kick.” [Uh-huh. Kick. If you think lots of vinegar and yellow tomatoes are “kick”. Yes, yellow tomatoes. Between the tomatillos and yellow tomatoes, this salsa is the color of baby food… and about as hot. Or not].

Do you really want to see the ingredients list? Oooh-kay:

• Yellow tomato puree (water, yellow tomato paste), fresh jalapeno peppers, water, tomatillos, fresh onions, salt, cilantro
• vegetable oil (corn, cotton seed, canola, and/or soybean), distilled vinegar, lime juice concentrate
• sugar, garlic, smoked paprika, and natural flavoring

It’s a hoot to see corporations extol an ingredient such as paprika, only to find it next to last in the list.  Pace, you did good with the 3 Pepper Salsa… this one, not so much.

Bottom line: it’s thin, vinegary, slightly tingly on the tongue, but not worth fooling with.  Ok.. I

just got an idea… pour it over some chicken enchilladas and douse with some red enchillada sauce. Since you have to use up the bottle after all.

Seriously, though, you may be wondering what a “tomatillo” based salsa tastes like.  By all means, this is an “ok” salsa to try for your first time.  But if you are a tried and true Chilehead…  you’ll Pass on Pace Salsa Verde!

---

My 3rd least favorite would be:

Pace Tequilla Lime Salsa: The weakest of the bunch. All citrus and a hint of jalapeno heat. Barely. Actually, there is a burn in the back of the throat, but I think it’s probably more from the green chile peppers, onions and citric acid, than from the jalapenos.

For all of you Tequila lovers out there, check out this “Marketing Dept Gobbledygook” on the label:

Take a little Tequila [is there ANY in it?], cook it down to concentrate the flavor, and add our best yellow tomatoes [again with the yellow tomatoes?], jalapenos, and onions, then a squirt of lime juice. It tastes like salsa having a wild night out [not]. Eat responsibly [woo-hoo!].

Ingredients (if ya really really want to know):

• Yellow tomato puree, fresh jalapeno peppers, green chile peppers, reconstituted lime juice
• fresh onions, tomatillos, squash puree [whaa?], tequilla, cilantro, salt, sugar, citric acid and natural flavoring [my fave].

---

Lastly, my least favorite of the Pace products in jars is…  ta daaa…

Mexican Four Cheese: Salty. Cheesy. Probably an OK choice for jarred/canned salsa con queso. But I’ve had other salsa con queso that wasn’t so salty.

Everyone knows what a jarred/canned/cheese con queso is.

Just for fun, here’s the ingredients:

• water, soybean oil, monterey jack cheese (pasturized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), dried whey, jalapeno peppers, onions, roasted red peppers, sodium phosphate, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), whey protein concentrate, maltodextrin, salt, cheese base (cheddar, monterey jack, asadero), and queso blanco cheeses, (pasturized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), water, whey, butter (cream, salt), salt (actic acid, sodium citrate, flavoring, citric acid), lactic acid, datem, nacho seasoning (bell pepper powder, dehydrated onion, spices, chili pepper, dehydrated garlic, tomato powder, jalapeno pepper powder, soybean oil, artificial flavor), sorbic acid (preservative), xatham gum, guar gum, sodium aginate, annato extract, glucose, sodium hexame, taphosphate, spice extract, color blend (annatto and paprika extracts) and soy lecithin.

WHEW!!! Really makes you want to just melt down some Velvetta and add your own favorite salsa to it.

There is a 5th variety in this line called Pico de Gallo but it’s been so long since we tried it, my comments will have to wait until we try it again.