Worcestershire sauce is hard to spell, harder to pronounce and found in kitchen cupboards around the world. Dark, tangy and savoury, it has been made in the city of Worcester for well over 150 years.
Two chemists in Worcester
John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins ran a chemist’s shop on Broad Street in Worcester. In the 19th century, chemists sold groceries and condiments as well as medicines, and around 1837 the two men began producing the sauce that would make their names famous.
The legend of the cellar
According to the company’s own story, a local nobleman, often named as Lord Marcus Sandys, a former Governor of Bengal, asked the chemists to recreate a sauce he had enjoyed in India. The first batch tasted so unpleasant that it was abandoned in the cellar. When the barrel was rediscovered months later, the mixture had matured into something delicious.
Historians have found no record of a Lord Marcus Sandys serving as Governor of Bengal, so the details are best treated as a marketing legend. The long maturing process, however, is real: the sauce is still aged before it is bottled.
What is in it?
The recipe is a closely guarded secret, but the label lists the main ingredients:
- Malt vinegar and spirit vinegar
- Molasses, sugar and salt
- Anchovies
- Tamarind extract
- Onions and garlic
- Spices and flavourings
Fermented anchovies and tamarind give the sauce its deep savoury flavour, what cooks now call umami. Its ingredients also tell a story of trade: tamarind from the tropics, anchovies from the sea and vinegar from Britain’s breweries.
A sauce for the world
Lea & Perrins exported their sauce around the world from the mid-19th century, and it became especially popular in the United States. It is an essential ingredient in many classic dishes and drinks:
- Welsh rarebit and cheese on toast
- Cottage pie and shepherd’s pie
- Caesar salad dressing
- The Bloody Mary cocktail
Since 2005 the brand has been owned by Heinz, but Lea & Perrins is still made at its factory in Worcester.
How do you say it?
Locals say “WUSS-ter-sher”, with the middle of the word swallowed. Visitors who try to pronounce every letter are easy to spot.
Key points
- Worcestershire sauce was created by chemists John Lea and William Perrins around 1837
- The story of a nobleman from Bengal is almost certainly a marketing legend
- Anchovies and tamarind give the sauce its savoury, tangy flavour
- It is still matured before bottling and made in Worcester
