Alicita Salsa, A Lost Potential

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoASpJ430Lw

The Reckless Gastronome

Martin Peyruc, Reporter, Life News Today

I’m afraid I have disappointing news, the quirky fusion salsa I enjoyed so many years ago is gone. Not to be melodramatic (but I am) it’s a bit like finding out an old acquaintance passed on. Sure, they weren’t close friends and you hadn’t seen them in years, but you truly wished the best for them and the fact they are gone makes things feel a bit “less”. I can’t think of an English word for it, but one of the northern European languages probably has one, they are experts on maudlin (it’s probably the long winters).

Alicita Salsa seems to have been started around 1998 by Suzanne M. Fields, a Northern Virginia entrepreneur who built the company from a family recipe before the brand wandered into “international flavors.” That is how we got “Twist of Japan,” a salsa whose most identifiable Japanese element was ginger. I would have expected wasabi, or at least soy sauce, but they went with ginger and you know what, it worked.

The ginger smoothed out the salsa, taking off the rough edges and putting everything in balance. It was not chunky enough to feel rustic, not weird enough to be shocking and honestly not distinctly Japanese enough to need chopsticks. It tasted like regular salsa had spent a summer binging anime and was becoming a bit of a weeb but was still too scared to order the sashimi platter.

The most surprising thing for me is that no one has taken the idea and run further with it. Fusion foods are all over the place now (they weren’t unheard of in 2014, but they are even more common now). Alicita Salsa, had a whole line of “twist” flavors like Germany, Greece, and India, I haven’t seen any imitators at all. That seems a bit mysterious to me.

Speaking of mysterious, the fate of Alicita Salsa is a bit of a mystery as well. The website is gone. There are links to purchase for major retailers, even Amazon, but everywhere says they are not available. There is still a Facebook page, but there hasn’t been a post since March 2012 (two years before my blog post). If I was a hard biting reporter, I might be able to get more information, but let’s be honest, I’m more of a gentle chewing “reporter”, and I wouldn’t want to hassle anyone especially if it’s a sore subject, so let’s leave well enough alone.

The whole thing seems a bit of a shame, it was a pretty good salsa, and more importantly it had a unique idea, so it all seems like an even bigger loss. I’ll also admit that while I don’t eat a lot of salsa, I always kept an eye open for it when perusing the chip aisle. Obviously, I know a lot of the things I get are limited time offers, but for an entire brand to disappear feels somehow bigger. I guess it says something about the impermanence of the world around us. Excuse me, I need to go give my snacks a hug.

Original Blog

Alicita Salsa Twist of Japan

Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014

Japan, the birthplace of Godzilla, giant robots, pink haired schoolgirls with huge eyes, and plenty of other things I'm being culturally insensitive to. Japan is also known for its many and varied cuisines that continue to grow in popularity throughout the world. So, what makes this salsa "Japan Twisted"? Ginger. Interesting, I would have thought it something more distinctively Japanese like wasabi or Pokemon flavor. Ginger has been known in the West since the 1st century AD. I wasn't even sure where it originated from because pretty much every culture now uses it in their food (southern China, by the way). The Japanese ginger I see most often is the pink slices that are served with sushi and known as Gari. Gari is used to cleanse the palate between pieces of sushi. In salsa the ginger gives it a much smoother taste. There's plenty of zest and tang, but it mellows the acidity and spiciness. Makes me wonder why more salsas don't use it. It's not a particularly chunky salsa, the ingredients are mostly blended, but you can still make out what pieces were what. It goes great with chips, and I imagine it would also compliment any dish it was used in. I wouldn't immediately think of Japan when I try this, but I do have to say domo arigato (Mr. Roboto).

Found at Giant