La Victoria's Orange Sauce

Don't stereotype about San Francisco. There are plenty of vegetarian nazis all over California.

Andrew wrote:

Vegetarians are losers. Stay in San Francisco and leave the rest of the bay area to people that dont cry and have to spend their days WORRYING ABOUT STUPID SHIT LIKE THIS!

anyone know how to actually make this??? i want to make it at home and see how good i can make it

First off I really do not understand animosity between vegetarians and meat eaters. Frankly there are plenty of other things that divide people against each other namely race, class, sexual orientation, and gender/non gender. When someones diet,(which when not annoyingly forced on someone from either side)...becomes such a division, lets shoot ourselves in the face.

With that said I really can't think of anything more great to eat as a vegetarian then eating mexican food. While not traditionally friendly or catering to veggies at all, the bay area is pretty freaking good. Times are a changing, a lot of places have veggie burritos on their menu. I'll eat a burrito everyday, try and stop me.

Some tips:

1. Black beans are pretty much always vegetarian. In addition to that, alot of taquerias have "whole" vegetarian pinto beans that do not have lard. La vics has them.

2. Some taquerias when you ask if they have lard will not understand you. Do yourself a favor and learn Spanish. Your life will be more rewarding.

3.Beans,cheese,rice,and some chips will make an awesome protein combo that will rock your world nutrition wise.

Burritos rule

Andrew wrote:

Vegetarians are losers. Stay in San Francisco and leave the rest of the bay area to people that dont cry and have to spend their days WORRYING ABOUT STUPID SHIT LIKE THIS!

San Francisco has better meats than San Jose anyway. And burritos.

I think if you are that much of a vegetarian and are so offended then maybe you should have asked what the sauce consisted of before just putting it into your mouth. Usually people don't tell you if there is meat or dairy products in something at a restaurant. You ask about the ingredients in foods and how they are prepared so why not ask what is in a sauce they make?

I think the problem at La Vics and MANY places in San Jose that have people working there, and English as a second language, is that when you ask if something is vegetarian, they don't understand what that term is. I have come across many restaurants that say, when asked, that something is vegetarian, when in fact it has chicken base, or pork base. They do not understand that chicken broth,(which is usually used to make spanish rice) is not vegetarian. They think that because it doesn't have noticeable chunks of meat in it, it is "meatless." I'm sure many of you vegetarians have had a conversation with a waiter asking if something is vegetarian, and the waiter has a confused look, so you say "does it have meat in it?" Get it. It's not necessarily their fault. They do not understand you. You need to ask details, like "is there chorizo grease in it?" or "do you use chicken broth?" I ate broccoli soup at Panera, after asking if it were vegetarian and the clerk said, "yes, there is no meat in it" I looked up the recipe on Panera.com or something like that, and it lists chicken broth in the base.
Its not that people are lying or whatever, they are not familiar with vegetarianism.

You might want to be alert to what I'll serve you, without your knowledge.... You might just wanna eat at home.

So, has like anbody figured out what that orange shit is made of yet? Vegetarian or not?

As a chef,(10 plus years on fine dining) I can tell everyone in this forum that unless the item states "VEGETARIAN" on the menu, it's got a nice chance of having a meat product in it. This is true in EVERY SINGLE RESTAURANT (that does not state items are vegetarian, or boast itself that they are a vegetarian restuarant) I've taken restaurant law classes and there is NO LAW against what La Vics is doing,(unless they state it's a vegetarian taco sauce) Pork fat, duck fat, stocks, etc. go into many many things that you wouldn't think would ever contain them.

Mexican cuisine is based largely around the use or pork products. Tamales, tortillas, refried beans, etc all TRADITIONALLY contain lard. This is what makes them taste authentic, and yummy. It doesn't surprise me AT ALL that there is chorizo drippings in the sauce! For one, while making an emulsification you need a fat. If you didn't notice, La Victoria differs from most traditional hot sauces by being thick and creamy. This means that at some point, they stuck everything in a blender and then slowly added their fat (In this case, it seems to be chorizo oil) Voila, you have a thick, creamy, and TASTY sauce, that many people are nuts for. SEcondly, I think La Vic is genius. Two words, FOOD COST.. What a wonderful tasty way to transform your drippings from chorizo (which would otherwise die in a tub of grease in the back ally) than to turn them into profit by emulsifying them into a famous orange sauce. The owners and chefs of these restaurants are at ZERO fault here. They don't advertise as a vegetarian restaurant, nor do they state that their sauce is free of animal products. This isn't a big shocker people. It is THE VEGETARIAN who has to be fully responsible for what he/she eats, and its up to him/her to question what is in there food. A word to the vegetarians. NEVER EVER ASSUME that a product doesn't contain a meat product. This is very NAIVE on your part as a consumer, and quit blaming the chef for putting veal stock in a corn coulis. It's what makes us chefs! The ability to take something, add stuff to it, and make it something that you want over and over and over again.

Now DOES ANYONE HAVE THE RECIPE!!!!

I have asked many times, even trying to be sneaky about it and they have either said "its all vegetables" or a few times when I asked if it had dairy they just smiled and shook their head. I know whatever is in there they dont want anyone to know.
I just believe that whatever is in there is not just vegetables. Maybe its that IMO sauce thats supposedly dairy free but used as sour cream.

Why are all the La Vic female employees over 250 lbs? Now that worries me.