Kawalsa’s Salsas, Chutneys & Butters

“With no prior knowledge in the food industry, I cautiously attended a weekend market in Nova Scotia, over my summer vacation and was absolutely blown away with the results. I was surprised to see that everyone was interested in the salsa, to the point, that people were coming back with their mother and husband to buy more. Needless to say, I came home with empty cases and ideas brewing inside my head.” ~ Company owner Kawal in an interview with Simply Fresh

These products from Kawalsa are unlike anything I have ever tasted before. If you have been looking for true homemade salsas with absolutely original flavour, this is your product to buy. The owner is in Ottawa getting ready to sell online but if you want to try them, this year they will be available in Manotick Village Butcher and at the Life of Pie website. Lucky me I got to try them at home!

From front to back I began with the fruit, rhubarb-lime and smoked salsas. I tested them just tortilla chips at first. I did not want anything impacting the flavour of the salsas.

The fruit salsa is sweet but there is an East Indian edge to it. A hint of cumin I think which gives it exotic flavour. The rhubarb-lime is so thick it reminds me of rhubarb jam. Delicious and a bit wild thanks to the lime, which I love. My favourite though was the smoked salsa. So earthy, fiery without too much heat but tons of flavour… I want a giant jar of this one!

Notice how thick the salsas are? Especially the rhubarb lime? In an article with Simply Fresh, owner Kawal expressed how important thick salsa is, “Well, to be totally honest, I HATE runny salsa, so one day I decided that it should be easy enough to make. Fast forward 20 years, and here I am.”

I think the most wildly flavoured salsa is the raspberry. This time I put it on a cracker and it literally blew my mind! The flavour is way more intense than I was expecting but the longer it was in my mouth, the more I loved it. Yes, raspberry flavour is definitely there but the chunks of onion went with it surprisingly well. I call this one a flavour bomb… in a good way.

I thought Reg was going to pass out trying this one but same thing, in a moment or so he grew to like it which is saying a lot. He does not like strong flavours like me!

Lucky me I also got to try the vanilla rum banana butter and wow, can you ever tell there is real banana in there. I found that flavour very strong and did not notice the rum very much which is too bad, I think that would have taken it over the edge!

I have been testing this product for a month now and the quality is unmistakable. I find it so impressive Kawal buys most of the ingredients for the dips from the Byward market in Ottawa:

“I would like to believe that I am helping out the little person and local farmer and not some company which produces mass quantity of crap loaded with pesticides.”

You can really tell. Every salsa tastes so fresh and, well, REAL. My only issue is I tend not to combine meat with fruit. I know, I am weird that way. I do not like to mix meat and fruit, it bothers my stomach (those who know about food combining will get this).

I did try it though! Last night I made a steak dinner and only seasoned the meat with garlic salt and black pepper, the way my mom makes it. I scooped a little bit of each salsa onto a piece of meat and unfortunately, the flavour of the meat totally disappeared. The great thing about these salsas is they are so super strong with flavour and full of life but even with steak, all I could taste was the salsa.

But you know, that is OK with me. I will enjoy them with my tortilla chips and those who love crazy flavours with their dinners will go gaga over these wild flavours. The quality is unmistakably high and the creativity endless. If you are looking for a totally new high quality salsa that is nothing like you have ever had before, Kawalsa is the brand to get. I give this product four and a half out of five wooden spoons.