My Love Affair With Worcestershire Sauce [moved from Home Cooking]

[Ottojr]

My love affair began when I was a child. My Grandparents and Mother used this 'Miracle' Sauce just about on and in everything. I remember when my Mother made her famous breakfast and poured WS all over, my taste buds just began to sing.

Curries, Stews, Vegetable Juices, Poultry, Beef, Fish...I mean even some crazy combos got the sauce. Crispy Bacon and Banana Sandwiches with WS poured over went down so nice.

I cannot ever remember the cupboards being without this sauce and now I carry on this addictive tradition. I even carry it with me when I travel because I really like the English-Based, Lea and Perrins (Had to edit Crosse and Blackwell-did not mean them). The rest appear as poor imitations imo.

Just felt like sharing...Good Eating to you all.

[Ottojr]

I remember in my youth the very first time I looked at the ingredients of WS and saw the word Anchovy. Of course this is after I had been using it for a very long time. I hate Anchovy, Sardines and Herrings with a passion and really tried to get a liking for them. All of a sudden it was like the taste of Anchovy magnified by a million. I stopped using WS for about two years. Growing a little older and developing my palate allowed me to once again fall in love with this beloved sauce.

[Steve Green]

If you love Worcestershire, try Creole Meuniere sauce, which contains a half a cup of reduced Worcestershire:
http://www.palacecafe.com/recipes/9-c... (sauce recipe at bottom).
We made it a while back and it came out just like in the restaurant. BTW, that's the sauce you see in my avatar. I might like it even more than hollandaise.

[TroyTempest]

Speaking of WS, does anyone know of a good vegetarian WS. I have a vegetarian daughter, and i generally leave it out of dishes that i make for her, but if there is a vegetarian option i'd try it. But i wonder if the nachovies are so integral to the flavor, if it would be worth it.

[njmarshall55]

I'm not trying to be funny, but your mispelling of anchovies got me thinking...anchovies on nachos...I wonder...

But the real reason I'm reading this is that the US made WS is made in my home town of Fair Lawn, NJ. When working down at Memorial Pool in the summer, every now and then you'd get a whiff of a batch being made at L&P in the Industrial Park, not too far away. Now there is never a moment where a bottle or two is not in the fridge. It's as indispensable to my cooking as salt and pepper.

[Perilagu Khan]

I'd say L&P, Tabasco, French's Mustard, Heinz Ketchup and Hellman's Mayonnaise are the great American condiments.

[GH1618]

Although L&P sold in the US is made in the US, I believe it originated in England.

[njmarshall55]

Yes, GH, it was. Funny story..I'll make it short. I met up with a business partner in an airport in England. As we sat and had lunch, I noticed a bottle of WS on the table and casually mentioned that it was made in my home town. When I picked up the bottle, it said, Manufactured in Worcester, England. He got a good laugh out of it, but when we returned to the states, he confirmed I was right.

[TroyTempest]

i think anchovies would be good on nachos.

[paulj]

I wouldn't surprised if someone substitutes hydrolized vegetable protein for the anchovies. It's the umami (glutimates) that they are after. Frenches still has the anchovies, but some other 'knock off' might not. Health foods stores might also have something like this.

Another option - Maggi seasoning or Braggs (sp?) amino acids (or what ever it is called).

[TroyTempest]

i hate Bragg's. I don't know why it is, but to me it's like a bad substitute for soy sauce

[TroyTempest]

Yeah, it is one of those things i think of when i'm not at whole foods, then when i am there i forget to look for it.

[paulj]

I didn't see anchovies on the ingredients list of a Western Foods (generic) WS.

[pitterpatter]

I make this recipe (the second one) and substitute the fish sauce or anchovies with miso. Works great. It doesn't look like WS as we know it, but as the perhaps "chef's most important secret ingredient" it does the trick, at least in may daily life, cooking for a bunch of vegetarians.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/mag...

[piwakawaka]

when I was in the UK in the early/mid-90's you could get Worcestershire sauce potato chips... they were so good, we're heading back there in July and they are my first foodie desire (assuming they still make them)

[ultimatepotato]

They sure do. The brand is Walkers, they're available at most of the supermarkets.

[Perilagu Khan]

I'd love to try those. Sound delish.

[Buckeye_Local]

L&P on Fried Liver, Bacon & Onions.

[paulj]

Has anyone else tried to make their own? A while back there was a thread about hfcs in WS, and a link to a recipe to make your own. I tried it, and was rather pleased with the result, though I wouldn't say it was the same as L&P. And mine ended up sweeter than the bottled.

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[TroyTempest]

This is on the short list of things that i don't think could be improved upon homemade.

[GH1618]

I'll second that. L&P is aged for 18 months, besides having several exotic ingedients.

[paulj]

The Saveur recipe calls for letting it age for 3 weeks in the fridge.

What exotic ingredients do you have in mind?

I had everything in Saveur recipe, except I used fish sauce instead of the anchovy.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes...

[GH1618]

"Exotic" means "introduced from abroad, not native" (Oxford American Dictionary).

"Lea & Perrins uses only the finest ingredients sourced from around the world (from L&P web site).

You'll have to call them to get the complete list of ingredients — I don't have the recipe.

[paulj]

Tamarinde and cloves appear to be the most exotic ingredients
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/foo...

[jhopp217]

It actually pains me when I go to BBQs and people don't season their burger meat with some WS. At home, for me it's S&P, a little garlic powder, cumin and WS. I usually put the WS and then mix it in. Then season the burgers. It makes the burgers so much tastier than anything anyone else I know makes. Especially if the meat doesn't have a high fat count. I use a little more when making Turkey or Bison burgers.

[laliz]

I love worcestershire on steak; and in tuna salad.

[Perilagu Khan]

L&P often finds its way into my hamburger patties. And like FP, one of my favorite spaghetti sauce recipes includes Worcestershire.

[Uncle Bob]

Don't use it as a strict condiment that much, but 'Wooster' sauce and little dry white wine goes in everything but Pecan Pie, Peach Cobbler, Buttermilk Pie, Banana Puddin, Corn bread, biscuits......well you get the idea.

[suzigirl]

Marinated steaks in Worcestershire. Nothing like it. My friends kids were hooked on A-1 on everything and they ate at my house alot. One night they had killed the bottle and when dinner rolled around and I found the bottle empty I mixed worcestershire., ketchup and Badia complete seasoning. Lots of Worcestershire. They never ate A-1 at my house again. They asked me to make the secret Suzi sauce. Nothing like A-1, but tasty.

[FoodPopulist]

It's a key ingredient in my version of spaghetti sauce (which kind of resembles a virgin bloody mary).

I experiment with it occasionally by using it as a substitute for fish sauce in Asian recipes.

[KSlink]

I'm with you on this one, I've loved the stuff since I was a kid and it's the number ONE staple condiment in my pantry!

[blue room]

I don't put anything else on steak. I buy Lea & Perrins, but once tried a store brand to save money. I swear they took real Worcestershire, diluted it on-to-one with water, and rebottled it! Never again.