Dips and Salsas

By: Paula Frank
Technical Editor

  Here for a Latin dance lesson specializing in salsa techniques and dipping maneuvers? If so, you've come to the wrong place. If, on the other hand, you're interested in the ins and outs of developing bold-flavored salsas and dairy-, bean- and avocado-based dips, read on.

  First, note that dips are basically thick sauces. After all, salsa is another word for sauce, and as with sauces, several criteria, including flavor, texture and shelf stability, play key roles in dip and salsa development. For both products, achieving flavor balance with acidity and heat affects the perception of quality.

  Then, whether developing a dip or a salsa, keep this trend in mind - the more unique, the better. Manufacturers and restaurateurs alike are looking for ways to differentiate their products. Regardless of the variety of flavors or unique ingredient combinations used, attention must be paid to quality and stability.

  Dips and salsas are part of a growing category of products called "condiment enhancers," according to Lucien Vendôme, senior executive chef at Kraft Food Ingredients (KFI), Memphis. In other words, dips are multifunctional. No longer are they simply viewed as an accompaniment to snacks such as chips, but they also find application in a variety of additional ways that help consolidate product inventory. For instance, one formulation of salsa works both as a hearty dip for chips and as a sandwich spread or fish topping.

  Unconventional use of dips and salsas also gives chefs the opportunity to create signature dishes. "The right salsa can turn a simple grilled cheese sandwich into a specialty item, while adding salsa to an uncomplicated salad-dressing base enhances an ordinary salad," says Lori Miller, R.D., L.D., director of market development for Eatem Foods, Vineland, NJ. "Salsa serves as a simmer or braising sauce or as a steak sauce when added to a demi-glacé with some brandy, burgundy or whiskey. Traditional sweet sauces such as barbecue sauces, honey glazes and fruited sauces suddenly become more flavor dimensional with the right salsa added."

  Different and unusual flavor combinations are popular. "The sky's the limit," says Cathy Begy Sliwinski, principal food scientist at Innova, a Griffith Laboratories Company, Oak Brook, IL. "I've really found that when I present dips to customers, the more unusual the better." Some of the more unusual offerings include BLT, pepperoni pizza and piña colada dips, among others.

  Many ideas originate from traditional dip flavors such as ranch or onion. Going a step further and adding, say, artichokes to a spinach dip adds a little extra flair to a traditional favorite. Other flavor trends work well not only for dips, but transcend the segment and are popular throughout the food world. Anything termed roasted, fresh or gourmet has a lot of appeal, notes Wayne Pohero, senior flavor chemist at Innova.

  Many products on the market also feature blends of gourmet ingredients. Take, for example, the following products sold by Companions, Inc. in Seattle. Artichoke Serenade™ contains artichoke hearts, roasted shallots, herbs and chiles, and Sundried Symphony™ combines sun-dried tomatoes with artichoke hearts, chiles, roasted garlic and feta cheese. A third variety, Spicy Apricot Fusion™, blends apricots with ginger and chipotle peppers. These versatile products, originally developed for catering use, have application in a wide variety of dishes. For instance, the apricot variety could be used in a stir-fry or in combination with olive oil for salad dressing, notes Jennifer Boyd, who runs the wholesale division of the company.

  Ethnic diversity is finding its way not only into our culture, but cuisine as well. For example, when traditional salsa becomes Asian salsa, "there might be some mango in it, or a lot of chiles. There might be pickled ginger, lime or honey, so that it reminds you a little bit of Thai food," says Vendôme. Also reflecting an Asian influence is the Santa Ana-based California Avocado Commission's recipe for Far East Guacamole. This dish contains serrano chiles, cilantro and sesame oil, ingredients frequently associated with Asian cooking.

  Indian and Mediterranean - specifically Moroccan and North African - cuisines seem to be on the cutting edge, notes Miller. As a result, spices such as coriander, cardamom, tamarind and fenugreek, uncommon in U.S. product design even three years ago, are becoming more popular in dips and salsas.

  Traditional dip preparations also reflect new influences. "Pesto in the United States is no longer just a paste of basil, olive oil, garlic and Parmesan," says Vendôme. "The process of grinding a range of ingredients together has resulted in Asian pesto, Southwest pesto and California pesto." The term pesto is derived from mortar and pestle, the traditional tools used in creating the original Italian basil dip/sauce. Now, any combination of ingredients that complement each other can be ground into a pesto. Vendôme describes nontraditional pestos: "a southeast Asian pesto of cilantro, chiles, ginger, garlic and coconut and a regional Mexican-inspired pesto of ancho chiles, cinnamon, almonds and chocolate."

  Dips traditionally associated with ethnic cuisine are also becoming more mainstream. Take tapenade, for instance, which is made with black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and anchovies, which are cooked together then whipped with an equal amount of olive oil. A variation of tapenade, called anchoiade, is based on fresh anchovy paste. And in hummus, a Mediterranean version of tapenade, chickpeas replace the olives and anchovies, says Vendôme. "Hummus has become a familiar item. Years ago it was found only at obscure Moroccan restaurants and health-food stores," he notes. Nowadays, most markets carry hummus in a variety of flavors, including roasted red pepper and roasted garlic.

  Cross-cultural borrowing lends itself to interesting ingredient combinations. This is particularly evident in the salsa market, where traditional commodities such as tomatoes, onions and peppers join other ingredients such as fruit, avocados and herbs to create unique blends.

  Webster's New World Dictionary defines salsa as a hot sauce made with chiles and tomatoes. Of course, nowadays, salsas may not necessarily be tomato-based. (For more information on tomato-based salsas, see "The Salsa Saga" in the April 1998 issue of Food Product Design.) Peach salsa, for example, might contain coarsely chopped peaches with red onion, mint leaves, lime juice and jalapeños, or plum salsa might use chopped plums, green onions, basil and balsamic vinegar. Then there's salsa verde (green salsa), typically a blend of tomatillos, green chiles and cilantro.

  Mexican cuisine has two types of salsas. Salsa cruda signifies the fresh, raw product - pico de gallo for instance, while salsa ranchero is the cooked salsa. "Basically, most of the salsa that we see on the supermarket shelves is really cooked salsa," says Vendôme. The challenge from the manufacturing point of view is delivering a fresh taste in a product that must be heat-treated, particularly when consumers expect a fresh, authentic flavor, such as the taste of fresh cilantro.

  Flavor chemists have a variety of options when it comes to flavor duplication, including essential oils, oleoresins and aquaresins, as well as true botanical materials. For example, to accentuate your cilantro note or give it a little twist, you can add a touch of lemon oil or some other spice arrangement. Lemongrass oil works synergistically with cilantro, says John Randazzi, vice president of flavor development, technical sales and applications, Eatem Foods.

  Striving for flavor authenticity is a challenge that many manufacturers face, and one that can often be overcome, at least in part, with the assistance of a flavorist who works in conjunction with the applications scientist. According to Pohero, a flavorist can mimic the flavors and nuances of a fresh ingredient that either won't stand up to harsh processing conditions, carries a bacterial load when used fresh, or isn't readily available. Upon request, Sliwinski once made a salsa flavored with epazote, which is a pungent Mexican herb similar in flavor to fresh coriander. To find the herb for the flavor chemist to duplicate, she looked in the tea section of a local specialty market, since epazote is also used as a tea. Using a flavor instead of the actual commodity assures the developer of a steady, uniform supply of the ingredient, and also removes the obstacle of sourcing it in obscure, potentially unreliable locations.

  Authenticating flavors is also difficult when the flavor of the original sauce comes from a complex or involved process. "Some of these traditional authentic dishes are cooked for six, seven hours, so the flavorist has to imitate that overcooked chile flavor that seeps into the rest of your recipe," says Sliwinski. "For instance, for a tomatillo serrano salsa, I had to roast the tomatillos and the serrano chiles under the broiler, grind them, then mix them with other ingredients and then reduce them on the stove for a couple of hours." When developing a flavor, the flavorist has to take the entire cooking process into consideration - some flavor elements will probably be lost, but some gained as well. It's then up to the applications scientist to adjust elements such as roast flavor or heat to the desired level.

  Although shelf-stable salsa is hot-packed, the pH must still be 4.5 or less. Tomatoes and vinegar, or acetic acid, lend to acidity. Organic acids such as citric, malic or lactic can also increase acidity. Often, the type of acid used depends on the impact desired. Citric acid has an immediate, sharp impact, while lactic and malic are less harsh initially, but linger longer.

  Even though acidity gives salsa a flavor boost almost as an enhancer would, it shouldn't be too harsh. This is where masking technology is critical. "Masking capability has been used in the pharmaceutical industry forever," notes Randazzi. "For the past 50 years, people have been making adjustments in sugar/acid ratios. If you look at it as a wave, the sugar and the acid have to be in balance so one doesn't overcome the other. There are technologies out there that can actually adjust that sugar so that you get a latent sweetness. A latent sweetening affect will subdue a high-acid product, and will synergize with your basic sugar product. You are not doing anything chemically, it's strictly a perceptual trick."

  Vinegar choice can make a difference in perceived acidity and sweetness. "There's a difference between balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and just plain wine vinegar," observes Randazzi. "Balsamic vinegar's got that aged fruity note. There's a lot of perceptual sweetening going on in there. It already has a better sugar/acid ratio than straight vinegar. Of course, any of the fruit vinegars are better than white-distilled vinegar, which is really harsh." Randazzi notes that several perceptual flavor tricks can cause a perception of sweetness, including using certain natural botanical ingredients or adding a touch of a sweet fruit note, vanilla or perhaps cinnamon.

  There are also other means of masking acidity - fat, for example. Or, a flavor chemist can add a nuance of sweetness, such as sweet tomato, to a flavor, notes Pohero, who also recommends adding a savory flavor that is yeast based. "Autolyzed yeast extract (AYE) or any kind of enhancer cuts acidity or covers it up." Using low-acid tomatoes may also do the trick, adds Sliwinski.

  One thing to keep in mind during the development and evaluation process of any ready-to-serve dip or salsa is that flavors need time to equilibrate. Pohero suggests storing at least overnight for equilibration, but recommends monitoring the flavor over a longer period of time to see whether flavors lose potency, are unbalanced or develop off-notes.

  In terms of balancing flavor and heat, it's often best to target a heat level that the majority of people are comfortable with, explains Marlin Bensinger, owner of Chromtec, North Palm Beach, FL. Look at popular products such as Tabasco® or Frank's Redhot®, which run somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Scoville heat units, and use those as a target. This leaves room for the average "chile head" or lover of super-hot sauces to adjust the salsa with their favorite brand of heat to achieve their own desired level of pain.

  For food applications, a true Scoville measurement relies on a highly trained group of panelists to determine the dilution at which the extract produces a "threshold bite," according to Kalamazoo, MI-based Kalsec's technical bulletin on capsicum/oleoresins (publication number 0005A). For example, if a 1:1,000,000 dilution produces the threshold bite, then the extract is said to have a pungency of 1,000,000 Scoville units.

  With a product such as Walnut Creek, CA-based Basic Vegetable Products' dial-a-heat® jalapeño peppers, which have no heat, a salsa manufacturer can control heat without having to worry about crop-to-crop variation. At the end of the production line, a controlled amount of oleoresin with a known pungency can be added to a basic salsa mix. The amount of oleoresin added determines whether the salsa is mild, medium or hot.

  According to Gary Hainrihar, vice president of sales and marketing for Kalsec, his company produces a capsicum extract that is decolorized and water soluble, and ideal for applications that are low in pH and high in salt, such as salsas.

  Any variety of oleoresin may be used to adjust pungency, explains Bensinger, including a chipotle type, habenero, or oleoresin capsicum, which generally is African or Indian Capsicum annum, a very hot chile. As long as heat is added in a controlled manner, the scientist retains the ability to balance various flavor components.

  Chiles are available in several forms, and as mentioned, oleoresins are one method of incorporating the heat, and possibly the flavor, of chiles into an application. The form of chile used depends on the nature of the finished product and the tolerable level of variability.

  As with any product of nature, dried ground chiles are subject to varietal differences and crop variation. "If you buy red chile powder on the open market," says Bensinger, "you can wind up with a product that varies all over the map, not only in pungency, but in flavor and color too." Larger companies help farmers control the seed stock in an effort to reduce variability. Another issue with dried ground chiles is potential fungus, bacterial or insect fragment contamination. "When you dry peppers in the subtropical zones, you have humidity. The major component of the pepper is sugar," adds Bensinger. "Sugar and water create a breeding ground for these contaminants, and ultimately affect the flavor of the chile. Using quality ground chiles can be advantageous however, because they act as a natural thickener, and impart a different flavor nuance than that of a liquid extract."

  Mash presents an alternative to dried ground chiles. Mash, or wet ground chiles, ranges in texture from a puree to a chunky, salsa-like texture. Mash is often blended with vinegar and salt, or just salt in locations where access to vinegar is limited. Before considering using a product like mash, you must take into account the additional salt and vinegar contribution to the finished product.

  Some suppliers of mash simply grind the peppers, add a tiny bit of vinegar and freeze the product into a block. Although freezing results in a slight break-down in cell structure, causing a softening of the texture, cooking peppers during the salsa preparation process will soften the tissue anyway, so this shouldn't be an issue, explains Bensinger. It's important that chiles are processed in a manner that eliminates certain molds and fungi spores, because any mold or fungus that grows on top of the mash may impart a taste to it.

  Pepper pungency is related to the amount of capsaicin in a variety's seeds and veins. "Capsicum pungency is the sum total of the pungency of the five major capsaicinoids, which are nordihydrocapsaicin, capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, homocapsaicin and homodihydrocapsaicin. These make up about 98% to 99% of the total capsaicinoids that are present in typical peppers," says Bensinger. These capsaicinoids were first isolated by a team of scientists at Kalsec during the mid to late '70s. The scientists and sensory panelists discovered that the physiological response of the individual capsaicinoids differ. (The study, "Determination of Pungency Due to Capsicum by Gas/Liquid Chromatography," was published in 1977 in volume 42, number 3 of the Journal of Food Science.)

  As Bensinger explains, nordihydrocapsaicin, with the smallest molecular weight of the five, hits the front of the mouth with a "sharp, peppery, almost an instant bite." Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin hit towards the base of the tongue, and homocapsaicin and homodihydrocapsaicin hit further down in the throat with a slow, warming sensation. "You can't really design around this to any great extent right now," says Bensinger, "except that habaneros have a lot more capsaicin in them - relatively speaking, compared to the rest of the homologs - than any of the other peppers do. So, if you want something that gives you a kicky bite, compared to a slow-warming bite, you'd want to use habaneros." Not only does capsaicin content affect perceived pungency, but the matrix plays a part as well. For example, the perceived pungency of a pepper in saturated oil is greater than that in polyunsaturated oil.

  Because capsaicin is temperature sensitive, the smoking or roasting process shouldn't rise above 140° to 150°F. Also, for consistency, manufacturers can add liquid smoke, an FDA-approved additive. Miller recommends using smoked chiles in highly spiced applications with bold flavors. Roasted chiles are subtler in flavor, with sweet caramelized notes more conducive to milder applications.

  Some pepper varieties are valued more for flavor and others for pungency, which makes for some interesting combinations in salsa. There's a notable trend toward peppers getting hotter, and as peppers get hotter, lower levels are able to deliver the same pungency, which translates into cost savings. As Bensinger explains, "the hot jalapeños are starting to approach the mild cayenne. There are cayennes that are starting to approach the habaneros. Cayenne is a heavier-bearing plant, and mechanical harvesting is readily adaptable, so a cayenne is a much easier product to bring to the market place."

  For those whose motto isn't "no pain, no gain," the taste of guacamole might be preferred to that of a searing pepper. Traditional guacamole is a mix of avocados, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemon or lime juice and seasonings. Some blends include jalapeño peppers, cilantro, vinegar and for retail brands, possibly a preservative such as sodium benzoate. Some retail outlets offer guacamole-seasoning packets that require the addition typically of two ripe avocados and a small amount of lemon juice to prevent discoloration. On an industrial or foodservice scale, adding half a teaspoon of ascorbic acid or three tablespoons of lemon juice to every gallon of mashed avocado acts as an antioxidant and helps preserve its fresh, green color.

  A just-add-avocado mix may contain ingredients such as maltodextrin and dried whey as bulking agents; dehydrated vegetables such as onion, red bell peppers, jalapeños and garlic; modified food starch as a thickener; corn syrup solids or dextrose as sweeteners; citric acid or vinegar powder for acidity; and stabilizers such as mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate and/or lecithin. Blends might also contain salt and other flavoring ingredients and enhancers.

  Hass, the most popular avocado variety, is widely available year-round. Its pebbly-textured skin turns from green to near black when ripe. Fuerte, which has a thin, smooth, green skin, is another popular variety, available late fall through spring. According to the California Avocado Commission, other types available include the Bacon, a mid-winter green variety; Gwen, a slightly larger Hass-like fruit that remains green when ripe; Pinkerton, a winter variety with a small seed that yields more fruit per avocado than other types; Reed, a large round avocado available in the summer; and Zutano, a shiny yellow-green fruit available at first harvest in September.

  In terms of assessing the fruit's ripeness, an avocado that yields to gentle hand pressure is ready for processing. If the fruit is soft, it should be refrigerated and used within two days. Breakers, or fruit that is somewhat soft, can be held at room temperature (65° to 70°F) for two to five days. Firm fruit ripens when stored at room temperature for five to seven days.

  Although Fritos® Brand™ Bean Dip, a blend of pinto beans, vinegar and seasonings, has been on the market for some time, the concept of using beans as a base for a dip is becoming more prevalent. Since beans are inherently bland, they blend well with all kinds of flavors. "We suggest strong-flavored ingredients like chipotle with its smoke flavor, hot chiles, garlic, onion, lemon or lime, and ginger," says Miller. "We have a ginger concentrate that would give it pungency and zest, and a cilantro concentrate that punctuates flavor and adds a high citrusy note. Plus, bacon, ham and clam also work well." Vegetarian meat flavors are an alternative to meat-based products, particularly since those who market bean dips generally try to appeal to the vegetarian market, adds Miller.

  For a basic bean dip, particularly one made with dehydrated or freeze-dried beans, added flavors help enhance the natural bean note, says Sliwinski. Refried beans, for example, could benefit from a lard flavor, with a savory flavor as a background note. In the dry-mix form of hummus - ordinarily a blend of chickpeas, olive oil, tahini (sesame paste), garlic and lemon juice - sesame flavor substitutes for tahini, and starch helps build viscosity, says Sliwinski.

  Among the more common bean varieties are the pinto, kidney, black, pink and garbanzo, otherwise known as the chickpea. Beans are either sold dry or rehydrated in cans. Dry beans are cleaned and soaked prior to processing. During the soaking process, the oligosaccharides, or indigestible sugars, are broken down while the beans rehydrate to double or triple their original size. An approximate yield for one pound of dry beans is six cups of cooked.

  Although there are several ways to soak beans, the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, Frazee, MN recommends the hot-soak method because it reduces cooking time and produces a consistently tender product. For this method, 10 cups of water are used for every two cups of dried beans. The water is brought to a boil for two to three minutes, then the beans are removed from the heat, covered and left to soak for four to 24 hours, followed by draining and rinsing with cool water. A quick soak uses six cups of water in place of the 10, and soaks for only one hour. For the traditional method, dry beans soak in cold water for eight hours or overnight.

  During the cooking process, starch leaches from the beans and causes foaming, which can be prevented by adding a small amount of oil. Beans should be covered by water during cooking, and stirred throughout to prevent sticking. Adding flavoring ingredients such as herbs and spices during cooking is desirable; however, ingredients high in salt, calcium or acids should not be added until the beans are fully cooked, because they can prevent the beans from becoming tender. Also avoid using sodium bicarbonate at any time, because it destroys the thiamin content of the cooked bean and affects its flavor.

  Dairy-based dips range from processed cheese-type products and starch-thickened bases flavored with cheese solids to sour cream-flavored dips. Cheese proteins and solids provide a lot of body and viscosity to a dip; however, as you remove cheese solids to drive down cost, you have to build back texture with starches and gums, says Tom Rieman, business manager for the dry cheese area at KFI. Cheese powders, flavors or concentrates add flavor to dips without building solids, and vegetable fat contributes to mouthfeel. Ingredients such as whey, whey-protein concentrate (WPC) or nonfat dry milk provide an alternative source of dairy solids. Since WPC has more protein than whey, it helps with body and texture, adds Rieman.

  For sour cream-based dips, Phillip Tong, Ph.D., associate professor, dairy products technology center, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, recommends looking at the flavor and texture of the product hot as well as cold. It's important to see how the sour cream changes as it gets warm. Also, evaluate a flavor such as an onion dip mix in the base to make sure that it can carry the flavor adequately.

  Tong explains the two approaches to making sour cream-based dips. "One would be the traditional culturing of a cream base, and the second one is a direct acidification, where you can directly acidify a cream base to get the desired texture you want." Either process drops the pH to a range of 4.50 to 4.75. Since no culturing is done with direct acidification, flavor compounds can mimic those produced via the culturing method.

  According to Tong, several criteria are important in terms of selecting a stabilizer and an emulsification system. "One is to maintain some degree of firmness of the product, which is generally performed by a gelatin or a pectin-based product. Another is to have some thickness to the product after you have broken the basic gel structure, and that can be achieved with starches and the use of polysaccharide gums; i.e., guar, xanthan or locust bean gum." These stabilizers prevent the product from weeping or wheying-off during distribution, storage, or in application. Finally, Tong recommends using phosphates or citrates to prevent protein instability, which results in poor texture.

  Viscosity and texture of sour cream can be improved by various processing methods, including slightly higher-heat treatments or slightly higher pressures during homogenization. "The higher-heat treatment unfolds many of the whey proteins in the dairy ingredients, and this improves their water-holding capacity," notes Tong. "It helps to cross-link and form a gel structure that holds water." Also, because polysaccharide byproducts of certain cultures improve textural characteristics in the finished product, careful selection of a culture may prove to have added benefits.

  Depending on intended use, Tong recommends consulting an ingredient supplier for the appropriate stabilizer blend to achieve desired functionality of a sour cream product.

  Some process cheeses have the right combination of solids, salt and pH to inhibit bacterial growth, which creates a shelf-stable product, notes Rieman. A processed cheese product such as this contains emulsifying salts to prevent the separation of fats and proteins and has a dippable texture upon melting.

  Shelf-stable cheese dips typically require a more severe heat process, such as retorting, to make them shelf stable. As a result of the additional heat, the color may also take on a brown cast, particularly if the formula contains whey. Rieman recommends using a rotary retort as opposed to the stationary type to achieve a more rapid heat transfer, which minimizes flavor degradation.

  Certain cultures produce antimicrobials that help extend the shelf life of dairy dips. Lactic acid also has some antimicrobial properties for both pathogenic and spoilage bacteria - a property conducive to extended shelf life. A direct antimicrobial additive such as potassium sorbate is also used as a preservative.

  In some cases, additional stabilizers are added to cultured cream to prolong shelf life. For instance, gelatin can be melted in a separate vessel, mixed with the cultured cream and then packed. It wouldn't have to be repasteurized unless the stabilizer requires heat activation. You have to look at long-life products on a continuum, says Tong, because there is long-life shelf stable and extended-life refrigerated. Hot filling, for instance, can extend the life of a pasteurized refrigerated product up to 30 to 60 days. Shelf-stable products require aseptic processing, an adjusted pH, and/or the use of preservatives.

  No matter what a dip or salsa is made with, rarely will you find one without herbs. The type of herb used depends of course on the application. Dried herbs work best in dry mixes. For wet applications, several options exist, including fresh frozen herbs, intermediate-moisture herbs and herb pastes. According to Laurel Place, director of sales services, SupHerb Farms, Turlock, CA, "fresh frozen herbs are already washed, chopped, individually quick frozen and sized, so they're 100% ready-to-use."

  Fresh frozen herbs defrost rapidly, so storing them in the freezer is recommended once the required amount is removed from the package. When replacing dried herbs with fresh in a formula, use one-and-a-half to two times the amount of fresh to dried. Fresh frozen herbs have an advantage over fresh, because seasonality and price are never an issue, says Place. A wide range of herbs are available as fresh frozen including basil, chives, cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sorrel and spearmint.

  Intermediate-moisture herbs are infused with salt and sugar, partially dehydrated and frozen. This process brings the moisture level to 32% to 44% and the water activity to 0.7. They can be refrigerated for up to 21 days or frozen for four years. These herbs will even keep for several hours at ambient temperatures. Place cites several advantages for these herbs: "You can refreeze them without having to worry about blocking, they maintain their color, and they don't weep in dairy applications." They are also ideal for applications sensitive to microbial activity and may be added after pasteurization.

  Herb pastes are made with herbs blended in a base of canola or olive oil. They have a smooth, spoonable consistency when thawed. Herb pastes work well in dips, says Place, because by adding them to a base of sour cream, cream cheese or mayonnaise, you have a ready-made product. Recommended usage levels are one part herb paste to five parts base, creating flavor combinations such as basil sorrel, ginger cilantro and rosemary garlic sage.

  Whatever dip or salsa flavor combination desired, remember - the sky's the limit, as long as attention is paid to textural and microbial stability. Just as in dancing, balance and stability are perfect partners.

© 2000 by Weeks Publishing Company

3400 Dundee Rd. Suite #100
Northbrook, IL 60062
Phone: 847-559-0385
Fax: 847-559-0389
E-mail: info@foodproductdesign.com
Website: www.foodproductdesign.com