I wondered at first how this would differ from Trader Joe's Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa, which I adore.
Well, in terms of how it's made, the chief difference is that it's the green chiles that are roasted here, rather than the tomatoes. ("Double roasted," we are told, means that they get roasted once whole, then again after being peeled.)
In terms of taste, I noticed two things, chiefly: First, there's more heat. This is confirmed by a higher level shown on the little TJ's thermometer pictogram that they helpfully include on their salsa labels. It's just a tad higher than I like. Second, there's more cilantro, which has a flavor that always seems bitter and unpleasant to me.
I didn't hate this. I finished off the jar. But I liked it less than others I have tried.
Will I buy it again?
No.
Nina's View
Raise your hand if you're surprised that I liked this much better than Bob
did.
I thought so.
De gustibus non disputandum. (Shyeah. As if. I am right and he is wrong…
for me.)
Update
Many weeks after writing the above, I was at Nina's house for dinner, and she put out this salsa with some crackers, and I thought it was mighty fine. But I couldn't be sure whether I was having second thoughts about the salsa itself, or if it was just that particular combination of salsa and crackers that was such a winner. Or maybe I was just extra-hungry, making everything taste better.
So I bought another jar, and tried it side-by-side against my current salsa champion, the Fire-Roasted Tomato. Using ordinary corn chips as the vehicle, I quickly established again that I do like the latter better than the Double Roasted.
However.
I gave Nina the same opportunity, and, fiddler that she is, she took it upon herself to mix the two salsas together, about 50:50. She declared the mixture to be greater than the sum of its parts. I had to admit it was pretty good.
Over the next few days, I repeated the experiment, using three small bowls--one of each of the two salsas, and one of the blend. I ended up convinced that Nina was correct: The mixture is superior to either one alone. So you might want to try that.
Update
Many weeks after writing the above, I was at Nina's house for dinner, and she put out this salsa with some crackers, and I thought it was mighty fine. But I couldn't be sure whether I was having second thoughts about the salsa itself, or if it was just that particular combination of salsa and crackers that was such a winner. Or maybe I was just extra-hungry, making everything taste better.
So I bought another jar, and tried it side-by-side against my current salsa champion, the Fire-Roasted Tomato. Using ordinary corn chips as the vehicle, I quickly established again that I do like the latter better than the Double Roasted.
However.
I gave Nina the same opportunity, and, fiddler that she is, she took it upon herself to mix the two salsas together, about 50:50. She declared the mixture to be greater than the sum of its parts. I had to admit it was pretty good.
Over the next few days, I repeated the experiment, using three small bowls--one of each of the two salsas, and one of the blend. I ended up convinced that Nina was correct: The mixture is superior to either one alone. So you might want to try that.
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