The “TAP Sauce” story begins in 2005.  My specialist plastic surgery practice had been up and running a number of years and with Christmas approaching I was again searching for gift ideas to give the people who helped make the year the success it was.

 

In previous years I had resisted the temptation to give sweets, chocolates or trinkets and instead left trays of summer fruit around the hospital I worked, opting for the “healthier option”.  It always concerned me a little, however, that this didn’t seem to give something of “me” back, it seemed to lack the “personal touch”, and so I began the search for something better…

 

Around the same time I made another batch of my family's favourite home-made tomato sauce, when it struck me that we could make a big batch, bottle it up and give it away.  That way my friends and colleagues would be taking something much more personal home with them, and sharing it with their families!

 

As tasty as it was I couldn’t just give away the standard stuff I had been making at home, it had to be special, and it had to be my own recipe!  So, I began experimenting. Starting with a recipe given to me by a friend, I substituted certain ingredients, added apples and a lot of roast pumpkin to the standard tomato base, and voilà, TAP sauce was born!

 

That was really just the beginning.  Once we had the recipe it was all hands on deck.  Carolyn and the kids all chipped in; chopping tomatoes, peeling apples, roasting pumpkin.  It all went into a 100 litre stock-pot; bubble-bubble, stir-stir, like a scene from Macbeth, then into specially purchased sauce bottles, pasteurised, home labelled and boxed up ready to go.  Looking back now its amazing how well it all worked, and to think it all only took one whole weekend (without any sleep at all).

 

The sauce was hand-made this way for several years, seemingly a big success each year.  By 2009, however, it was time to move onto the next chapter in the TAP Sauce story; commercial production!  I can honestly say that the transition from a domestic kitchen (or more correctly, the back deck) to a commercial facility has only served to enhance the quality and consistency of the product, so the TAP Sauce of today truly is a top quality gourmet product.  Its also a lot easier!

 

So what of the “healthier option” I touched on at the beginning?  It may surprise you to learn that Ingrams’ Famous TAP Sauce typically has half the salt, a third of the kilojoules and a quarter of the sugar of other tomato sauce brands, and not only that, it tastes better!

 

Happy eating everyone!

 

The Ingram Family