I love salsa and consume a lot of it. Here are my all-time favorite commercial ones—one from each of three countries and now all available on the internet.

The salsa trifecta

Matouk’s Salsa Picante, made in Trinidad, was once common in Belize. Each time I went I’d bring back as many as I could fit in my luggage. One year I asked Andy Johnson to please bring me back some. He was down doing fieldwork on our long-term study site there. When he returned, he gave me half a case—and said I could have the other half once he’d successfully defended. Ah, the sweet taste of success.

D’Elida’s Picante Chombo is made in Panama, and until recently it was only available there. Matt and Peggy Miller were my connection there, but when they moved away I had to go for quite awhile before the company finally made it possible for their international customers to keep enjoying their product.

There are many chilpotle salsas, and surprisingly few of them are very good. We used a lot of Bufalo Salsa Chilpotle (made in Mexico) because it was available locally and it’s pretty good. But the store stopped stocking it and I’ve been on a long search since then to find a replacement. Rancho Gordo’s (California) Felicidad Chipotle Sauce is excellent and an improvement over Bufalo’s. (I first had chilpotles over thirty years ago in Veracruz. They let the jalapeño pepper ripen to its deep red color, then smoke them dry. Exquisite. While I wasn’t surprised that they became popular in the U.S., I was surprised that in doing so they lost an “l”, another step farther from their Nahuatl origins.)

I won’t try to describe the flavors of these salsas—you’ll have to do that for yourself. They are amazing. Have fun!