Nina bought this and served it to me with some chips as a pre-dinner appetizer. She removed the lid and carefully arranged the container so that I couldn't see the name of the product, lest I be negatively prejudiced by my general dislike of nuts.
But here's the weird thing: I liked it, and she didn't. I couldn't really tell much about it at first, because the chips she had were too flavorful on their own. But I brought home the remaining portion, and subsequently tried it with the more neutral Organic Corn Chip Dippers (which I always have on hand), Pretzel Thins, and some non-TJ's tortilla chips. It worked well with all three, but especially with the Dippers.
I suppose it's fair to call it a "cheese dip alternative," but only in the general sense that any dip one chooses other than a cheese dip is a "cheese dip alternative." It doesn't remind me of cheese at all, except with a mighty effort of my imagination. But that's OK; I don't need it to be cheesy.
I don't know how to describe the flavor, because it's unlike anything I can remember. Oddly, there's a fair amount of sweetness to it, despite the ingredients list disclosing no obvious source of sugar. Cashews, potatoes, carrots, onions, green chile peppers, tomato paste, salt, vinegar, plus a few other flavorings--nothing sweet. It's a mystery.
It the "Fiesta" part of the product name is intended to convey something spicy or vaguely Mexican, well, it's false advertising.
Note that this stuff is quite stiff, and will break any wimpy chips you use to scoop it up. You may need to let it sit long enough to attain room temperature before attacking it with something delicate.
Will I buy it again?
Probably not. Though I like it enough to finish off the tub, I can't imagine picking it over any of my snacking dip staples of hummus and salsas.
Addendum, 2/11/19:
We tried it heated in the microwave, as suggested by the comment below, and it definitely improved it. It became more flavorful and much easier, physically, to wrangle with chips.
I read a number of reviews before trying this myself and they all said it was better hot. I did try some as is but it nearly broke my carrot stick! Gotta say it’s like 100xs better hot, i just warmed some in the microwave and it became a totally different thing. Silky and creamy, made for an easy to scoop chip dip.
ReplyDeleteTtrockwood