Irie Isle exotic fruit-flavoured jerk sauces, in original, guava and sorrel. Ideal for all meats. - Photo by Nashauna Drummond

Jamaican jerk is hot and it got even hotter at the JMA/JEA Expo held at the National Stadium in Kingston last month.

Jerk was on the lips and minds of organisers and patrons as Irie Isle rolled out a ground-breaking line of zesty jerk sauces. Flavoured with the rich taste of real Jamaican pineapple, guava and sorrel, patrons flocked to the Irie Isle booth to sample the zesty line of sauces.

At the awards ceremony on the final day of the Expo, the sauces were awarded 'Recognition for Best New Product' of the show.

The less spicey

Irie Isle's Marketing Director, Charlene Archie, notes that the fruit-flavoured jerk sauces use seasonal fruits to give an additional dimension to Jamaica's most popular cooking tradition. "Jamaican jerk is a powerful blend of scotch bonnet pepper, pimento, garlic and scallion that is very hot. However, not everyone can tolerate the full impact of the heat," says Archie.

The new line calms the spiciness and allows those less tolerant to heat to enjoy the jerk tradition.

The Irie Isle guava jerk sauce is good with most meats, but the Irie isle team highly recommends it with grilled seafood. The sauce is flavoured with the guava, but is still hot enough to stay true to the jerk tradition.

The sorrel jerk sauce is also good with most pairings but especially tasty with 'white meats' such as turkey and chicken as well as tofu and other vegetarian favourites.

Strong favour

The sorrel infusion sauce proved to be a strong favourite with children at the expo.

The pineapple jerk sauce imparts a distinctive flavour to whatever food it is paired with.

The company was launched in 2005 with a line of Irie isle ready-to-drink juices, and the following year rolled out the first of its popular drink mixers - Irie Isle sorrel squash. Since then it has added guava and pineapple squashes.