La Victoria has a new "Thick 'n Chunky" salsa in mild, medium and hot versions. The 16 1/2-ounce bottles retail for $2.09 to $2.19.
Don Russell (married, five children at home, ages 14-4): "The luck of the draw gave us the hot version of La Victoria's Thick 'n Chunky salsa to try. It was simply too hot for us. We could hardly taste it. If we added the contents of our bottle to a quart of stewed tomatoes, I think the resultant sauce would be a tasty one we would enjoy. If we would have had the mild salsa, I think we would have given it good marks."Edyth Jensen (married, three children and two grandchildren at home): "Our kids loved this. They really enjoyed the chunky vegetables. It's pretty good for mild. Some of our kids would enjoy the medium salsa more. We will buy this again. These kids discovered salsa over the past few years, and they really like it."
Nihla Lake (married, four children at home): "Our married daughter Laura Schmidt tested this and said: In the past, La Victoria has always made good salsa products. However, after tasting this version, I thought a better name for it might be `La Victoria Thick 'n Uncooked Vegetable Salsa.' The taste was good, but I thought I was eating at one of those fancy yuppy restaurants where they do not cook the vegetables! We will not be purchasing this item in the future because we make our own `thick 'n chunky' salsa - but we cook our vegetables.
Rich Firmage (married, three children, oldest 8 years old): "We are not big salsa people. I'm really the only one who eats it at all. I will put it in my homemade burritos and on nachos, but I never just eat it plain with chips. I usually buy the kind made in San Antonio, but I'm sure I wouldn't know the difference between it and the one `made in New York City.' This La Victoria is made in California if that matters. The only preference I do have is that I don't much like the thick and chunky. All in all, the La Victoria tasted just like salsa."
Bill Allred (single): "Hot. Hot. Hot. This salsa is too hot for me! I usually buy the so-called `fresh' salsas in the refrigerated case at the store. Bottle salsas don't taste as good to me anymore. This salsa has a chemical flavor, and it's just toooooo hot!"
Conclusion: The mild version of La Victoria's new salsa got a hearty thumbs up, but the hot was deemed too hot to handle. If you like thick 'n chunky, the mild version rates a try.