Worcestershire sauce adds an umami complexity to both salads & meats
Wine-Knows has just returned from its inaugural group
to England to sample the Brit’s exploding sparkling wine industry (recently the English “fizz”
has beaten numerous well regarded Champagnes in blind tastings). We stayed in the enchanting Cotswolds area, a
region filled with fairy-tale villages right out of a painting my modern day
artist Thomas Kinkade. Worcestershire sauce, created by accident,
comes from the Cotswolds' town of Worcester.
In the early 1800’s two pharmacists in Worcester were hired by a local aristocrat to construct a culinary sauce
similar to a savory condiment he had tasted in India. The pharmacists, John Lee and William Perrins,
made a concoction but it tasted nothing like what the noble lord had savored on
his Indian journey. Mr. Lee and Mr.
Perrins were stuck with an entire barrel of the sauce which set in their
basement for years. One day they discovered the forgotten barrel, re-tasted it and were delighted to discover that it had
completely changed to something delicious with the passage of time.
Lea and Perrins began bottling the condiment in 1837
and it became a big hit. Condiments in
Britain at the time were very popular as they gave
flavor to an otherwise bland cuisine. Worcestershire also helped to tenderize tough
cuts of meat so it became even a bigger success.
The sauce came to the US in
1839. To ship it across the Atlantic the
company wrapped each bottle in a classical paper wrapper to prevent breakage
on the sea journey. Today, bottles are still
wrapped in this brown paper. Worcestershire, the oldest commercially bottled condiment in the US, is now exported to
more than 75 countries.
So what’s in Worcestershire sauce? Lea & Perrins lists the ingredients on
each bottle: vinegar, anchovies, garlic,
molasses, onions, salt, sugar and water.
Although the components are known, the actual recipe is a closely
guarded secret.
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