|
       |
By Val Van Meter--The Winchester Star (7/19/06)
Question: What do you do with lots and lots of peaches?
Answer: Make salsa.
Shawnee Springs Canning Co.’s Production Manager David Omps developed the recipe for the company’s new product, peach salsa. “It was one of the easiest ones. We pretty much got it right the first time.” Because of the peach salsa’s success, Shawnee Springs is adding a peach-mango flavor to its line.
(Photos by Scott Mason)
Well, that’s the answer that Shawnee Springs Canning Co. came up with.
Shawnee Springs, owned since 1960 by the Whitacre family, is well-known for the quality of its canned peaches. Picked from nearby company-owned orchards, they are tree-ripened, steamed, and hand-peeled. This differs from other processing plants that use lye to strip the skin from underripe fruit.
That difference led Sutton Place Gourmet, an upscale retailer, to begin carrying the Shawnee Springs product six years ago.
The company also creates peach marmalade and preserves.
So a new peach product is always welcome.
The company unveiled its peach salsa this year at national and regional trade shows, said General Manager Lisa Whitacre Johnson.
“It was a hands-down hit from the beginning,” she said.
The recipe was developed by Production Manager David Omps. “It was one of the easiest ones. We pretty much got it right the first time.”
Johnson said the staff had sampled competitors’ brands of peach salsa and agreed on one thing right off the bat.
“We didn’t like the idea of a peach salsa made with tomatoes.”
“It looks strange too,” Omps added.
Peach Salsa from Shawnee Springs Canning Co. in Frederick County has a sweet-heat flavor, a combination of sweetness with a little hot tang when it goes down. It can be used as a marinade for chicken, as a topping for baked pork, or for just plain dipping with a variety of chips.
“So, we decided to go off on our own track,” Johnson said. “Nobody else uses freestone peaches. It’s unique.”
Omps had the basic ingredient, peaches grown in the company’s own orchards, picked and immediately frozen to use through the year in its products.
He added onions, cilantro, garlic, bell peppers, and “a few other things,” and taste-tested it on his co-workers.
“We keep tasting until we get it the way we want it,” Johnson stated.
Luckily for Omps, the company only has five full-time employees.
“Lisa likes it real hot,” Omps said.
“I’m in the middle,” said Sales and Marketing Manager Matt LaFollette.
Another co-worker went for mild.
“It’s a little hotter than mild,” Omps concluded. “You’ve got to keep the boss happy.”
Actually, said Johnson, “it’s got an after burn.”
Dig into a bowl of Shawnee Springs Canning Company peach salsa with any type of chips. The company unveiled its peach salsa this year at national and regional trade shows.
“It’s what we call sweet-heat,” LaFollette explained. “It is sweet when it first goes down and tastes hot as you keep on dipping.”
Shawnee Springs also markets a number of apple products, also from fruit it produces. The Whitacre family has been in the fruit-growing business since the early 1900s when George S. Whitacre bought 40 acres of apple orchards. In the 1930s, his grandson, George B. Whitacre, added 35 acre to the family holdings and planted peach trees.
The Whitacres bought Shawnee Canning Co. Inc. in 1966. The name comes from the American Indian tribe which used the Shenandoah Valley for its hunting territory in the 1700s and a spring on the mountain behind the Cross Junction facility.
Johnson is the fifth generation of the Whitacre family involved in the business.
While Shawnee Springs markets its own products at the farm market on North Frederick Pike that carries its name, it also provides products for other businesses, which put their private labels on the foods.
Because of the peach salsa’s success, Shawnee Springs is adding a peach-mango flavor to its line.
While peach salsa is made to go with chips, it has other uses, LaFollette said.
It makes a great marinade for chicken, and can be used as a topping for baked pork. “It’s a year-round seller,” Johnson added.
Peach salsa is available at the company’s outlet at Cross Junction, the Shawnee Springs Farm Market, and can be ordered from its Web site, www.shawneesprings.com.
|
|
| |
