Despite an inauspicious start, Worcestershire sauce conquered the world. Andrew Webb unearths its saucy secrets – but finds the recipe is still a mystery.
The usual story of how Worcestershire sauce came to be goes like this… In the 1830s, Lord Marcus Sandys, governor of Bengal, came back from India to Worcester and asked two local chemists, Mr John Lea and Mr William Perrins, to duplicate a sauce he had picked up on his travels.
The scientists duly did so but the resulting concoction was distinctly unpalatable. Rather than tip it away, however, Messrs Lea and Perrins left the stuff in stone jars in their cellar, where it quietly matured into something rather tasty – although it was several years before they discovered its merits.
The sauce goes global
All this may have the whiff of a Victorian press release but, however the sauce came into being, Lea and Perrins had a hot product on their hands. An ad in a New Zealand paper from 1846 extols the sauce’s great taste, yet warns buyers of ‘worthless imitations’. Lea & Perrins was one of Britain’s first big brands and, helped by such cutting-edge technology as the telegraph and steamship, aimed for a global market, offering a taste of the Empire, distilled via British palates.
Secret recipe
In 1897, the company moved to a new factory on Midland Road, Worcester, where, amazingly, it is still based today (although now owned by Heinz). You can find it with your eyes shut because the nearer you get, the stronger the saucy fragrance. The Victorian red-brick factory hasn’t changed much in essence, although today forklift trucks zip to and fro with plastic barrels, where once horses and wagons moved wooden ones.
The sauce’s exact recipe remains a secret, although Nigel Dickie of Heinz spilled the beans to me about what’s in it: “It’s made from malt and spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar and salt, all from the UK; anchovies from the Mediterranean and Atlantic; tamarind extract from India; garlic from Spain; and onions from Europe. It starts with the onions and garlic, which are pickled in vinegar for two years, during which time the bulbs liquefy.”
Meanwhile, the anchovies are cured for months and the other ingredients are mixed and prepared. When everything’s ready, it’s blended and transferred to maturation tanks where it’s aged again before pasteurisation and, finally, bottling.
A world of uses
A few dashes of the dark liquid pep up stews and sauces, or even something as simple yet lovely as cheese on toast. It’s also a key ingredient in a Bloody Mary. Drinks pioneer Tony Conigliaro, proprietor of London’s 69 Colebrooke Row, makes his with fresh horseradish-infused vodka, home- made celery salt, Tabasco and miso-enhanced tomato juice. The one thing he hasn’t tampered with, though, is the Worcestershire sauce. He recommends serving a shot of Bloody Mary with an oyster, a combination I can’t wait to try.
These days, the famous sauce is found in every bar in the world and most kitchen cupboards in Britain. Its achievement was that it drew influences and ingredients from all over the world and assembled them in the heart of England, before heading back out to the corners of the Empire. Which is about as British as it gets – and makes it perfect for puckering up that stiff upper lip.
Illustration by Kerry Lemon.
Recipes with Worcestershire sauce