Xochitl Salsa

I just realized I photographed the wrong part of the back of the jar.

Anyway, this salsa has Aztec roots because jalapeños are an Aztec invention. The salsa is produced by Carlos Salinas, and seems to be the most connected and honest use of indigenous food history I've encountered. I think this is in part due to the product itself; chilis have a different and less problematic set of associations for white people than chocolate. Because most indigenous uses for chocolate are no longer practiced, a lot of our conceptions of chocolate use among first peoples is romanticized. The chili pepper has a more organic, living tradition behind it, with preparation and use existing as a continuum rather than a fractured, fictionalized history.

Not sure how this product would be altered. Like Zola, it's a very self contained package, and if anything, I would want to share some of these ruminations about the chili continuum rather than question or subvert any of the motivations driving this salsa.