Secrets - Comin' In Hot

Comin’ In Hot

by Kerrie Houston Reightley

Local Salsa Hits Island Shelves

One could easily imagine exotic influences behind the recent launch of Ardell Food Company’s first product, Ardell Salsa, but owner Ross Eide said otherwise.

“It’s named after my Norwegian mom. I was raised in Minnesota, on Midwestern casseroles. Things that warm you up and stick with you. Every recipe included cream of mushroom soup. Even the vegetables were creamed.” But in the ‘90s, his mom created a salsa recipe, which soon became a favorite among his college buddies.

The inspiration to market it came when Eide’s youngest son Rooney, now 10, was a kindergartener at Bethany Lutheran Church. “He brought the salsa to share with his classmates, and his friends loved it, too,” Eide said. “They started asking their parents to buy it and the parents started encouraging me to sell it, and that stayed in the back of my mind.” When one of those couples recently purchased the Jiffy Mart on Sunrise Drive, Eide brought in samples, and the rest is history.

But “history” is easier said than done. “The minute you cut a vegetable,” Eide said, “you must go through a full process with the Washington State Department of Agriculture of getting inspections, an LLC, tax documentation and so on.”

His background working as a lawyer—prior to becoming a stay-at-home dad for sons Rooney and Haakon—helped facilitate the process. Ardell Salsa is now available at Jiffy Mart, Walt’s, Bay Hay & Feed and Willowtree Market, with hopes for expansion to Town & Country Markets.

His secret sauce? “Fewer ingredients, and higher quality,” said Eide. “We have hot, medium and mild. The spiciness is based on the number of jalapenos. It varies from batch to batch, because, in nature, fresh jalapenos vary batch to batch. Heat consistency would mean a chemical process, and we don’t want that.”

Just the way Mom made it.