Yaya's Tomato Sauce product reviews

There is no doubt that this is a rich and flavoursome tomato sauce that can easily compete with the mass produced ketchups on flavour alone, if not more so. But great gourmet products can never compete on price - and with something like this, why on earth should it?

This is not a mass produced item to be found in your local dairy or petrol station but is truly a great gourmet product.

Use it where you would normally use ketchup, but this product really comes into its own when you add this to home prepared foods where a slosh of tomato sauce (rather than ketchup) with enhance a dish and not smother it.

A great product, that you will find many, many uses for and should be a staple in your store cupboard. Enjoy - I know you will.

This one was included by special request from me. After receiving a tiny sample jar at the Auckland Food Show last year, I simply had to try more of it to see how it would go replacing the classic Tomato Sauce in all the standard dishes... the answer... WONDERFULLY... but not everywhere, alas.

This is a sauce that carries a thicker, slightly chunkier texture than your canned or bottle classic favourite. It's bordering on a 'relish' but still has that free flow that keeps it just this side of 'sauce'. You can pretty much replace your regular sauce with this and improve the dish dramatically... except (for me) in a plain old Luncheon sandwich. Sorry, but it just didn't give me the same satisfaction - probably because the luncheon butties I do are "comfort junk food" so a product of this high standard just didn't fit with that status. It's quite simply too good to pass as 'junk food'.

Areas I thought it really excelled:
- Fish and Chips (including hot dogs, sausages, crabsticks, spring rolls etc)
- In savoury mince
- In slow-cooker casseroles
- As part of the gravy in a home-made meat pie
- On top of regular, store-bought pies
- On a wholegrain sandwich with ham, sliced boiled egg and vintage cheddar cheese

I ran out of this before I could do much more testing - because my family all tried it and agreed it was pretty good, though my 3yr old still prefers the regular sauce simply because he's easily locked into habits, and doesn't like to slide too far out of the rut.

Overall, a wonderful sauce - a rich flavour, a chunkier texture that gives really good mouth-feel, and well worth checking out if you are getting tired of the same old pap on your pie. This is a sauce for smart adults!

I made macaroni cheese for dinner tonight, because my daughter loves this bland kinda thing. My husband is in full agreement with her and her taste buds, which often leaves me with a dilemma. What do I add to make this meal explode with flavour on my plate.

That's when I grabbed a bottle of Q Gardens' Yaya's Tomato Sauce. This is a really delicious tomato sauce. It has tomatoes, onions, spices and vinegar, but the surprise additive for me was the taste of apple. It seemed like a fast flowing relish, with lots of yummy chunks of the ingredients.

Added to the blandest meal, I can't imagine your taste buds not noticing the rich and fresh taste this sauce adds. I was a bit heavy handed with the sauce, but it was not overpowering at all. I'd definitely consider purchasing this in future.

I also love that all these sauces come in a cool looking glass bottle, beautiful presentation for gift-giving.