Worcestershire sauce

Lea & Perrins

The Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and continues to be the leading global brand of Worcestershire sauce.[19]

On 16 October 1897, Lea & Perrins relocated manufacturing of the sauce from their pharmacy in Broad Street to a factory in the city of Worcester on Midland Road, where it is still made. The factory produces ready-mixed bottles for domestic distribution and a concentrate for bottling abroad.[20]

In 1930, the Lea & Perrins operation was purchased by HP Foods, which was in turn acquired by the Imperial Tobacco Company in 1967. HP was sold to Danone in 1988 and then to Heinz in 2005.

Some sizes of bottles sold by Lea & Perrins in the United States come packaged in dark glass with a beige label and wrapped in paper. Lea & Perrins USA explains this practice as a vestige of shipping practices from the 19th century, when the product was imported from England, as a measure of protection for the bottles.[21] The producer also claims that its Worcestershire sauce is the oldest commercially bottled condiment in the U.S.[22] The ingredients in the US version of Lea & Perrins also differ somewhat, in that the US version (which include distilled white vinegar, molasses, sugar, water, salt, onions, anchovies, garlic, cloves, tamarind extract, natural flavourings, and chili pepper extract[23]) replaces the malt vinegar used by the UK and Canadian versions with spirit vinegar.[24]

Brazil and Portugal

In Brazil and Portugal, it is known as molho inglês ('English sauce').

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, a local variation of the sauce is Salsa Lizano, created in 1920 and a staple condiment at homes and restaurants.

El Salvador

Worcestershire sauce, known as salsa inglesa ('English sauce') or salsa Perrins ('Perrins sauce'), is very popular in El Salvador. Many restaurants provide a bottle on each table, and the per capita annual consumption is 2.5 oz, the highest in the world as of 1996.[25]

Germany

A sweeter, less salty version of the sauce called Worcestersauce Dresdner Art was developed in the beginning of the 20th century in Dresden, where it is still being produced. It contains smaller amounts of anchovies. It is mostly consumed in the eastern part of the country.[26]

Mexico

In Mexico, it is known as salsa inglesa (English sauce).[2]

United Kingdom, Australia

Holbrook's Worcestershire sauce was produced in Birmingham, England from 1875: today only the Australian subsidiary survives. Holbrook's Worcestershire sauce remains very popular in Australia where it is a staple in many households.[27]

United States

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce is sold in the United States by Kraft Heinz[2] following the Kraft & Heinz merger in 2015.

Other Worcestershire sauce brands in the United States include French's, which was introduced in 1941.[28]

Venezuela

It is commonly named salsa inglesa ('English sauce') and is part of many traditional dishes such as Hallacas (a traditional Christmas dish) and some versions of Asado Negro.[29]

Non-fish variations

Some "Worcestershire sauces" are inspired by the original sauce but have deviated significantly from the original taste profile, most notably by the exclusion of fish.

Gy-Nguang Worcestershire sauce has been produced since 1917.[30] It relies on soy sauce instead of anchovies for the umami flavour. The company makes two versions: Formula 1 for Asian taste, and Formula 2 for international taste. The two differ only in that Formula 2 contains slightly less soy sauce and slightly more spices.[31]

In Japan, Worcestershire sauce is labelled Worcester (rather than Worcestershire), rendered as. Many sauces are more of a vegetarian variety, with the base being water, syrup, vinegar, puree of apple and tomato puree, and the flavour less spicy and sweeter.[32] Japanese Agricultural Standard defines Worcester-type sauces by viscosity, with Worcester sauce proper having a viscosity of less than 0.2 poiseuille, 0.2–2.0 poiseuille sauces categorised as Chūnō sōsu (中濃ソース), commonly used in Kantō region and northwards, and sauces over 2.0 poiseuille categorised as Nōkō sōsu (濃厚ソース); they are manufactured under brand names such as Otafuku and Bulldog, but these are brown sauces more similar to HP Sauce rather than Worcestershire sauce.

Tonkatsu sauce is a thicker Worcester-style sauce made from vegetables and fruits and associated with the dish tonkatsu.[33][34]

Worcestershire sauce has a history of multiple introduction in Chinese-speaking areas. These sauces, each differently named, have diverged both from the original and from each other:

• Spicy soy sauce, Shanghai
• Worcestershire sauce was first produced under this name in 1933 by Mailing Aquarius, then an English-owned company. With Mailing moving to Hong Kong in 1946, the Shanghai branch was nationalised in 1954. Sauce production was transferred to Taikang in 1960. The sauce was reformulated in 1981 under a "nine flavours in one" formula, and again changed in 1990 into two "Taikang Yellow" and "Taikang Blue" varieties.[35][36] As of 2020, only the yellow variety remains available.
• The Taikang Yellow sauce contains no fish. It is used in Haipai cuisine, especially on pork chops and Shanghainese borscht.[37]
• A descendant of an earlier form of the sauce is found in Taiwan as "Mailing spicy soy sauce", originally produced by the HK branch of Mailing. It is found in steakhouses.
• Gip-sauce, Hong Kong
• This variety is of uncertain etymology: it may have come from catsup or the verb give.[38] Save for the Lea & Perrins original sold as a gip-sauce, most varieties of this type have a stronger umami flavour with the addition of soy sauce, fish sauce, and/or MSG; some commercial varieties forgo fish altogether. This sauce is commonly used in dim sum dishes such as steamed meatball and spring rolls.[39]
• Spicy vinegar, Taiwan
• This variety is descended from the Japanese Worcester Sauce via the Kongyen company, originally founded by Japanese businesspeople. It is also known under the name Taiwan Black Vinegar[40] due to confusion post-WW2.