Worcestershire Sauce

the Anglo-Indian sauce compounded at Worcester in 1837: tamarind, fermented anchovy, molasses, and spice matured into the dark, sour, savoury liquid hidden in a thousand British dishes

Origin: England

From the journey of Tamarind.

Worcestershire sauce is the vehicle by which the African tamarind, naturalised in India, became an everyday taste of the Western table without anyone noticing. The story told by the firm is that in 1835 the chemists John Lea and William Perrins of Worcester were asked to make up a sauce from a recipe brought back from Bengal by a returning nobleman; that their first batch was so fierce they abandoned the barrel in the cellar; and that on rediscovering it a year or two later they found it had matured into something remarkable. Whatever the truth of the tale, it captures the essential point: this is an Anglo-Indian sauce, and it depends on both fermentation and long maturation. Its dark, lingering, fruity sourness is tamarind, working alongside fermented anchovy for savoury depth, molasses for sweetness and colour, vinegar for sharpness, and onion, garlic, and spice for aroma. From 1837 it became a fixture of the British store-cupboard and then of the world's, splashed into soups, stews, mince, marinades, Welsh rarebit, and the Bloody Mary, and it fathered the whole family of British brown sauces that likewise lean on tamarind. A home-made version cannot replicate years in an oak cask, but it makes a fresher, brighter sauce whose tamarind is far more clearly tasted.

Ingredients

  • 500 ml malt vinegar
  • 60 g tamarind pulp (block tamarind)
  • 6 whole anchovy fillets in oil, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp dark molasses or black treacle
  • 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 whole onion, very finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 30 g fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 0.5 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick cinnamon

Method

  1. Soak the tamarind in 150 ml of the vinegar, warmed, for 30 minutes, then work it with your fingers and push it through a sieve, pressing hard, discarding the seeds and fibres.
  2. Put the strained tamarind vinegar and all the remaining ingredients into a non-reactive pan, bring gently to the boil, then reduce and simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Take off the heat and leave to cool completely, then pour the whole unstrained mixture, solids and all, into a large sterilised jar and seal.
  4. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for at least two to three weeks, shaking it every day or two.
  5. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve lined with muslin, pressing the solids to extract everything, then decant into sterilised bottles. Keep refrigerated and shake before use.

Notes

The commercial sauce is fermented and matured in casks for a year and a half, so no home version will taste identical; what this one gives instead is a fresher sauce in which the tamarind is far more evident. Anchovy is essential to the savoury depth and is what makes the sauce unsuitable for vegetarians; a vegetarian version can be built on extra soy sauce and a little miso, though the character changes. Use it as you would the bottled sauce: in Welsh rarebit and cheese on toast, in shepherd's pie and mince, in marinades and gravies, over grilled meat, and in a Bloody Mary.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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