Santipapas salsas made right here in Oakland.

As a registered nurse, Mark Sorenson definitely knows how to soothe the ailing.

Now as a salsa entrepreneur, he’s proving he knows how to perk up the taste buds, too.

What started as a hobby has now turned into a full-fledged business. His Oakland-made Santipapas salsas are now available at the Pasta Shop in Oakland and Berkeley, the Alameda Natural Grocery store in Alameda, Bi-Rite Markets in San Francisco, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco, and others.

The salsas will soon be in Northern California Whole Foods stores. Sorenson will start direct online sales in June, too.

The company’s name was inspired by Santiago Papasquiaro in the state of Durango. Nicknamed “Santipapas,” it is the town where his mother hails from.

Sorenson makes Roasted Tomatillo and Roasted Tomato salsas, each in both a mild and a hot style. They’re all made with a short list of ingredients –tomatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, garlic — all organic.

The 12-ounce jars are $10.99 each.

Choose mild or hot versions of Roasted Tomatillo and Roasted Tomato.

I had a chance to sample all four recently. The tomatillo salsa has a runnier consistency than the tomato one. It has a nice grassy tang along with plenty of cilantro flavor. The hot version of the tomatillo is actually slightly thicker in consistency with a more pronounced green pepper taste. It has a kick, probably just beyond medium hot.

The mild tomato salsa has the pourability of tomato sauce. It’s got an edge of sweetness, with a rounded cooked-tomato taste. The hot version is lighter in color, less sweet and a whole lot spicier.

What I like about these salsas is that they don’t taste necessarily California-fied, the way Mexican food here can be so often when it loses its distinctive flair and gets dumbed down.

Instead, there’s an authenticity to these salsas.

After all, Santipapas’ motto is “Life is too short for boring salsa!”

And these are far from that.