Information about Worcestershire Sauce

Worcestershire sauce (IPA: /ˈwʊstərʃər, ˈwʊstərʃɪər/ ("wuster-shur" or "wuster-sheer")) is a widely used fermented liquid condiment originally manufactured by Lea & Perrins, in Midland Road, Worcester, England. The genuine product, manufactured to the original recipe, available in the U.K., comprises malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spices, and flavouring. It is a flavouring used in many dishes, both cooked and uncooked, and particularly with beef. It is an important ingredient in Caesar salad and in a Bloody Mary. Lea & Perrins supplies it in concentrate form to be bottled abroad.

Worcestershire sauce is generically referred to as Worcester sauce (IPA: /ˈwʊstə(ɹ)/) when not manufactured by Lea and Perrins. It may contain vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, chili peppers, soy sauce, pepper, tamarinds, anchovies, onions, shallots, cloves, asafoetida and garlic.

Though a fermented fish sauce called garum was a staple of Greco-Roman cuisine and of the Mediterranean economy of the Roman Empire, "Worcestershire sauce" is one of the many legacies of British contact with India. While some sources trace comparable fermented anchovy sauces in Europe to the 17th century, this one became popular in the 1830s.

History

A widely reported legend has it that "Lord Marcus Sandys, ex-Governor of Bengal" (a figure unknown to history outside this tale) encountered it while in India in the 1830s, missed it on his return, and commissioned the local apothecaries to recreate it. However, Brian Keogh concluded from his research in writing The Secret Sauce a history of the Lea & Perrins firm that was published privately in 1997 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Midland Road plant, that "No Lord Sandys was ever governor of Bengal, or as far as any records show, ever in India."

The Lord in question, whose identity was being discreetly veiled by Messrs. Lea and Perrins (who used to aver on the bottle's paper wrapping that the sauce came "from the recipe of a nobleman in the county") was Arthur Moyses William Sandys, 2nd Baron Sandys (1792–1860) of Ombersley Court, Worcestershire, Lieutenant-General and politician, a member of the House of Commons at the time of the legend, whose given name is being confused in the tale with that of his heir, Arthur Marcus Cecil Sandys, 3rd Baron Sandys (1798–1863), who didn't succeed to the title, however, until 1860, when the sauce was already established on the British market. The barony in the Sandys family (IPA [sændz]) had been revived in 1802 for the second baron's mother, Mary Sandys Hill, so at the date of the legend, in the 1830s, "Lord" Sandys was actually a Lady. No identifiable reference to her could possibly appear on a commercial bottled sauce without a serious breach of decorum. It is likely her heir who agreed to sell the recipe.

To abandon the unrevised legend and substitute a more accurate version that was published by Thomas Smith, Successful Advertising, (7th edition, 1885):

We quote the following history of the well-known Worcester Sauce, as given in the World. The label shows it is prepared "from the recipe of a nobleman in the county." The nobleman is Lord Sandys. Many years ago, Mrs. Grey, author of The Gambler's Wife and other novels, was on a visit at Ombersley Court, when Lady Sandys chanced to remark that she wished she could get some very good curry powder, which elicited from Mrs. Grey that she had in her desk an excellent recipe, which her uncle, Sir Charles, Chief Justice of India, had brought thence, and given her. Lady Sandys said that there were some clever chemists in Worcester, who perhaps might be able to make up the powder. Messrs. Lea and Perrins looked at the recipe, doubted if they could procure all the ingredients, but said they would do their best, and in due time forwarded a packet of the powder. Subsequently the happy thought struck someone in the business that the powder might, in solution, make a good sauce. The profits now amount to thousands of pounds a year.

Upon completing the necessary steps, however, the resulting product was found to be so strong that it was considered inedible, and a barrel of the stuff was exiled to the basement of Lea & Perrins' premises. Looking to make space in the storage area a few years later, the chemists decided to try it once again (possibly to see if it was as bad as they remembered), only to discover that the sauce had fermented and mellowed and was now quite palatable. In 1838 the first bottles of "Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce" were released to the general public. It was a considerable success, and both the condiment and Lea & Perrins are successful to this day.

Messrs. Lea and Perrins, being John Wheeley Lea (research and product development) and William Perrins (finance), from their building in Broad Street, Worcester, ran by far the most important and successful chemist and druggist business in the county. They made their fortunes from manufacturing and selling the sauce. They built a new factory with railway access in Midland Road, Worcester and made various charitable donations to the city such as Perrins Hall in a Worcester School.

Dishes using Worcestershire sauce

Worcestershire sauce is a primary ingredient of the Caesar Salad.

One of the simplest recipes to use Worcestershire sauce is a variation of cheese on toast, with the sauce added to the plain version during the grilling process. Worcestershire sauce also plays a key role in the flavour of original flavour Chex Mix and possibly other flavours as well. Filipino cooking uses it frequently as a marinade, especially with pork. Among Filipinos also, a favorite dipping sauce for fried chicken is mixing Lea & Perrins with ketchup. Marylanders often use this sauce in their famous crab cakes.

In Hong Kong style dim sum, Worcestershire sauce is the de facto standard sauce for serving steamed beef meatballs. The Cantonese name for this sauce is "geet-jup".^[1]

In the UK, advertising by Lea & Perrins has made Worcestershire Sauce popular for use on spaghetti bolognese, cheese on toast, chips, gravy and sausages. It is also frequently used in chili con carne, and in a cocktail known mostly to Canadians called a Caesar[1].

Worcestershire sauce (known as salsa inglesa in Spanish) is an essential ingredient of the popular Mexican beer cocktail, the Michelada. It is also a key ingredient, besides lemon juice, in the marinade of Peruvian ceviche.

Finally, it is nearly universally available as a condiment in steakhouses throughout North America.

Japanese Worcestershire sauce

Japanese Worcestershire sauce, often simply known as sōsu ("sauce") is made from purees of fruits and vegetables such as apples and tomatoes, matured with sugar, salt, spices, starch and caramel. Despite this appellation, it bears only moderate resemblance to Western Worcestershire sauce. Sōsu comes in a variety of thickness, with the thicker sauces looking and tasting like a cross between the original Worcestershire sauce and HP sauce. There are many variations according to flavour and thickness, and are often named after the foods they are designed to go with, such as okonomiyaki sauce and tonkatsu sauce. It has become a staple table sauce in Japan, particularly in homes and canteens, since the 1950's. It is used for dishes such as tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets), okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes), takoyaki, yakisoba, yaki udon, sōsu katsudon and korokke.

Vegetarian substitutions

Vegetarian and gluten free alternatives are available; the vegetarian variety omits the anchovies (notably Henderson's Relish). 'Life' Worcester sauce, produced by MH Foods (Morehands Ltd), is both vegetarian (no meat, no fish) and suitable for coeliacs (no gluten ingredients. Note: Lea & Perrins is also gluten free). Angostura also offers a fish-free sauce, but doesn't advertise itself as "vegetarian."

There are also fish-free sauces produced for the Kosher market - not because anchovies aren't kosher, but because of an Orthodox prohibition on eating meat and fish together. These versions can then be used in recipes featuring meat.

It appears that Worcester sauce powders are vegetarian. The powder produced by Nikken Foods contains no meat or fish[2], nor the one produced by Provesta Flavour Ingredients[3]PDF.

See also

• Lea & Perrins
• Chex Mix
• Fish sauce

Notes

External links

• Chef Greg Atkinson, abetted by Lea & Perrins, reports and debunks the myth, without unveiling Lady Sandys.
• Lea & Perrins global website
• Lea & Perrins UK 'Splish Me' website