Pasta sauces

Dunnes Stores, 59 cent for 440 grams, €1.34 per kg

Highs: This is as cheap as chips and is made with the same basic ingredients as the Dolmio. In fact it is more than a euro cheaper and tastes not too dissimilar. It comes in a good-sized jar and is ideal for people who have more interest in how food looks than tastes. If you like spaghetti hoops, you'll love this.

Lows: The onions and tomatoes have been processed to virtual extinction and they taste soggy. There aren't many tomatoes - only 32 per cent which might explain the absence of any flavours other than sugar.

Verdict: Can't argue with the price, the taste on the other hand...

Star rating: **

Dolmio Original, €1.85 for 500 grams, €3.70 per kg

Highs: One of the first jarred sauces to arrive on Irish supermarket shelves back in the 1980s when most spaghetti came in a tin, this has been much beloved of culinary and financially challenged students. It is a fairly reliable if rather dull option. It has a strong dried-herb flavour which goes some way to counter the slightly synthetic taste.

Lows: It looks extremely processed and tastes it, too. It is also quite sweet and could not, unless you're really strapped for time or imagination, be served on its own on a bed of pasta.

Verdict: Hardly like mama used to make, surely?

Star rating: **

Loyd Grossman, €2.59 for 350 grams, €7.40 per kg

Highs: This is a widely available but still comparatively upmarket brand that is unlikely to disappoint. It has a surprisingly rich and wholesome tomato flavour for something which comes out of a jar. It has a nice spicy kick to it, too.

Lows: The tomatoes Grossman - who smiles out from every label - employs are perhaps a little too strong, as they leave little or no room for the other flavours to shine through. There is a promise of olives on the jar but they are so finely chopped and taste of so little that you could almost forget they were there. It's not cheap either.

Verdict: Will not let you down.

Star rating: ****

Sughetto, €5.50 for 280 grams, €19.64 per kg

Highs: With a label written primarily in Italian, this looks the most authentic of the sauces tried. It is much richer and more full-flavoured than the others, and the salty anchovy and caper flavours compliment the green and black olives nicely. You could almost forget the pasta and eat this with a spoon.

Lows: It's well over 10 times dearer that the cheapest of the brands tried and you don't get much of it for your money, so don't expect it to go a long way. It's also only to be found in the poshest of delis so you're unlikely to see it in your corner shop.

Verdict: Hard to get, harder to beat.

Star rating: *****