What is Mango And Black Bean Salsa?
Mango and black bean salsa is a fresh or jarred salsa used as a topping and dip. The salsa has sweet, salty, and savory flavors. The main ingredients are black beans, mango, and corn with spices and onion to amp up the flavor. The texture is thick and chunky.
What does Mango And Black Bean Salsa Taste Like?
Salty is one of the five main tastes. It has a satisfying and addictive quality with hints of sourness. Salty foods include cheeses, cured meats, chips, and olives. It is used in almost every dish and prepared food. Salt is added to enhance flavor and offer a distinctly salty taste.
Sweet is one of the five main tastes. It has smooth and round notes in its flavor profile. Sweet is a naturally occurring flavor in many foods, including fruits, berries, winter squashes, sugarcane, and honey. The sweet taste in these foods is due to a higher sugar content. Sweetness is characteristic of desserts and is used as an accent in savory foods.
Umami is one of five main tastes. It is savory with a depth of flavor. Umami is a taste in many foods, including meat, seafood, beans, and nuts. It is both naturally occurring and created through the specific use of ingredients to create a satisfying taste. Umami is characteristic of proteins and savory dishes.
Ingredients
Black beans grow on bean vines in long, thin pods. The beans are harvested from these pods and have a black skin, hence the name. The inside is white. When boiled, these legumes have a mild taste that is almost sweet and a texture that is soft and smooth, with a hint of grit. Due to the mild taste of these beans, they pair well with many flavors.
Mangoes are a large tropical fruit, with a thick glossy skin, juicy flesh and a large flat seed in its center, that encompasses much of the fruit. There are many varieties of mango, some have yellow skin, while others have a reddish skin that is green when unripe. Most mangoes are round and oblong, while others are kidney shaped. They are 2-9 inches in length and heavy. The flesh is smooth, though fibrous and golden in color. It is an extremely juicy fruit with a rich sweet flavor, that is unique to the mango.
Mexican corn, also referred to as elotes, comes in one of two ways; either on the cob or in a cup or bowl as loose cooked kernels. On the cob, the corn is grilled and seasoned with a thin mayonnaise, crumbled cotija cheese, and chili powder. Cilantro can also be used as a flavor and garnish. When served as kernels, the corn is drizzled and dusted with the same ingredients. The flavors are salty and sweet with a touch of spiciness.
The onion is a bulb vegetable, meaning its bulb and not its leaves are eaten. Onions come in many varieties, including white, yellow and red. Shallots are small and mild onions. Vidalias are sweet, while red onions are strong and sharp. The onion is usually round and has a thin dry skin around its juicy layers. This skin depends in the color of the onion, as does the flesh. The flesh, or body of the onion is made of multiple round layers, that get smaller towards the center. The flavor of onions are sharp and sweet when raw, with an astringent taste. When cooked, these flavors mellow and the sweetness emerges. Onion are a very common flavoring and ingredient for many savory dishes.
Lime juice comes from the citrus fruit of the lime tree. Limes are round and roughly the size of a small plum, but can vary. Limes have a firm texture with green rind. The pale green flesh of the lime is firm, pulpy and juicy, much like a lemon, but harder. The juice is squeezed from the flesh and is a pale green color with a sour and refreshing taste and is used in drinks and food items, including sauces.
Salt is a mineral composed mostly of sodium chloride. It is the main flavoring used in food and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as cheese, beets, meat and celery, plus many others. Salt is white and has finer granules than sugar. Many commercial salts include iodide, while others exclude it. Most salts are white, while some are naturally pale pink with minerals. Salt brings out the flavor of something and can create a tangy mouthfeel, if used in excess.
Cilantro is a leafy herb with a thin green stalk and small, partially fringed green leaves that look similar to a three leaf clover. It has a distinct smell that is similar to a lime and a flavor to match that. In addition, it smells and tastes the same and has a strong flavor with a hint of greens. Due to a genetic trait, some people find that cilantro tastes like soap. This herb is used in many cuisines, particularly from Asia and Central and South America.
Garlic powder is made from dehydrated garlic cloves that have been ground into a super fine powder. This powder is a pale yellow/golden color and is used to flavor foods. It works well in a pinch and can be used in many of the same ways that fresh garlic is used. The flavor is milder than raw or cooked garlic and is spicy, pungent and nutty. Garlic granules are another form of dehydrated garlic, but rather than powder it is coarser and has the same function. It is often used on top of fresh pizza, as a light dusting.
Cumin is a spice used in many cuisines around the world. The seed from which cumin is ground is a thin seed with a long body and tapered ends. Cumin is just a few millimeters in length and has a light brown or tan tone, which can look a bit grey. Ground cumin is light brown and has a flavor that is spicy, earthy and a little nutty. When pan heated, the flavor of cumin is both tempered and enhanced.
