When you hear the word salsa, what do you think about? For me, it's definitely salsa dancing and then salsa as the food. I've been obsessed with salsa dancing for the last 12 years and go dancing at least once a week. Each time I go salsa dancing, I'm not really sure what awaits me: will men ask me to dance? Will a DJ play a good mix of songs? Will someone step on my toes?
When eating salsa, however, I can control my experience by choosing either to make my own salsa or buy the premade salsa from the brand I trust.
Last week I was fortunate to be flown out to Bakersfield, CA to learn about Sabra's salsa line. This is part of my continuing working relationship with Sabra: remember a few years ago when I got a chance to go to Richmond, VA to learn about Sabra's hummus? Well, the company has since then started a line of salsa flavors and was eager to educate some food bloggers about the new products.
Many of my friends were flabbergasted I was excited about my trip to Bakersfield and weren't sure what it is I'll be doing there. Well, today I'll not only tell you about what I learned about Sabra's salsa, but also give you a few ideas for fun things to do if you ever find yourself in Bakersfield ;)
This was my lovely room in Marriott!
You know I LOVE tomatoes. After all, half of the name of my blog is tomato. And what's salsa made from? Most of the time it's tomatoes! See why this was such a perfect trip for me?
You may be familiar with Sabra's line of hummus, but now there's a new sibling in the family: salsa. Sabra even created a special website for their salsa line where you can find videos of farmers singing to tomatoes, coupons, sweepstakes and recipes.
One of my favorite parts of this trip was visiting the fields where farmers grow tomatoes for Sabra salsa and meeting the farmers. I was actually shocked that the tomatoes were of the Roma variety. I tend to avoid such tomatoes at the store, but these farm tomatoes were so much different. They were incredibly bright red, sweet, and had the perfect meaty firm flesh for making salsa.
Sabra has reworked the original salsa recipes to make improvements in flavor, taste, number of ingredients and how long the product will stay fresh. You'd be surprised that the company chose to shorten the length of time the product will stay fresh. Why would they do that? Because that meant cutting out unnecessary ingredients that typically lengthen the freshness of refrigerated salsa.
You, as a consumer, end up getting better tasting product where the main ingredients are tomatoes, jalapenos and onions or black beans and corn or mangoes and peaches...depending on the flavor of salsa you choose.
Below are the real people picking tomatoes and then me pretending that I picked an entire bucket.
A few other facts about Sabra's salsa:
Over the last years, this is what Sabra has been able to achieve:
40% reduction in number of ingredients
40% reduction in shelf life of the product
40% increase in consumer satisfaction
There are 7 flavors of salsa that all fit in one of the following categories:
thick and sweet
chunky and fresh
smooth and roasted
To make sure you all love their salsa, Sabra's tomatoes are hand picked at their peak of ripeness and go from the fields, to the factory and to the store in 36 hours! That's a really fast turn around.
After learning about salsa, eating salsa (and other things!), it was time to go salsa dancing!!! That's me braving out a new city and going dancing at a random Double Tree hotel on a Thursday night. And I'm glad I did!! It was really fun.
For other things to do in Bakersfield, visit Bakersfield Museum of Art:
And/or get pampered at Aveda spa! I got a great pedicure and love the name of the polish: Met My Match. I even ordered it from Amazon.
And/or visit Yosemite!!! Now, you know I'm not really a nature girl, but I was in love with the trees and the mountains. Incredible views.
And go get a burger!!!!!!!!!!!
And then go home ;)
What's YOUR favorite salsa?
Disclosure: flights, accommodations, food, and a pedicure was provided by Sabra. I was not compensated for this trip or writing this post. The only compensation I will receive is for developing the three recipes I mentioned above. All opinions are my own.
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