Saint Isidore - Tropical Charred Sweetcorn Salsa 150ml

I should say up front that I am not a religious man. So it came as a surprise to find myself, in middle age, worshipping at the altar of a hot sauce company.

The bottles alone deserve a mention. Each one looks less like a condiment and more like something you should light a candle in front of. My fridge door now resembles a small Mediterranean shrine, and guests have started lowering their voices when they open it.

Then there are the flavours, which read like someone tipped a spice rack, a fruit bowl and a medieval calendar of saints into a blender and hoped for the best. Kimchi ketchup? Mango with turmeric? On paper these combinations sound like the result of a lost bet. In the mouth they make perfect sense, which is more than I can say for most theology.

Saint Francis of Assisi, or as I prefer to call him, Saint Francis of ASSisi, is a kimchi ketchup that has ruined ordinary tomato sauce for me forever. The patron saint of animals has never done so much for a sausage.

But my true devotion is reserved for Saint John. Mango, turmeric and ginger, in a bottle, in Dunedin, in July. Down here in the deep south, winter dinners can be beige affairs: potatoes, more potatoes, and something boiled until it surrenders. A splash of Saint John and suddenly the kitchen smells like somewhere with a beach you'd actually swim at. It has become my go-to for rescuing bland meals, which in a Dunedin winter is most of them.

Apostle is made up on the Kāpiti Coast, which is about as far north as I'm prepared to travel for anything. For these sauces I'd make an exception.

Five stars, and possibly a small pilgrimage.

Absolutely delicious! Slightly runnier than I had hoped, but no less delicious nonetheless.

This new sauce is delicious, sweet and spicy goes with everything. You have to try this

Great refreshing flavour hit