Worcestershire Sauce

Worcester sauce (Worcester) is a sweet and sour fermented English sauce, named after Worcestershire. It is a spicy, highly concentrated seasoning that resembles a thick liquid, the recipe for which is kept in the strictest confidence. The sauce is served with boiled and fried fish, stewed meat dishes, bacon with fried eggs, roast beef, stew. Neither Bloody Mary cocktail nor Caesar salad are complete without it.

Interestingly, Worcestershire sauce stimulates appetite, improves metabolism. In addition, it is added to herbal drinks for the treatment of impotence, mental suffering, hangover.

History of occurrence

The original ingredients of the English sauce are brought in the form of spices from India in the XIX century. After delivering the spices, Lord Markus Sandy persuaded local grocers to make a mixture of them according to an individually invented recipe. However, the partners questioned the result, since according to the data provided, the dish included 25 components, most of which were not grown in England. When grocery chemists mixed the ingredients, they found that the mixture had a fishy smell and a sharp acetic taste that discouraged all the desire to eat the product. However, ironically, by chance or not, a keg with sauce hit the basement, where 2 had lain for a year. When it was opened, to the surprise of the cooks, there was a spicy spice with excellent taste and mild aroma in front of them. After an amazing discovery, the product began to be produced for sale on an industrial scale.

Composition and nutritional value

In 100 ml of sauce, 78 kcal of 19,5 g of carbohydrates is concentrated. According to the classic version of the recipe, the British traditional liquid seasoning includes: water, nutmeg, curry, horseradish, garlic, ginger, vinegar, onion, tarragon, bay leaf, a mixture of peppers, anchovies, tamarind, celery, asafoetida, aspic, lemon juice. Despite the well-known exact composition of the sauce, to this day the chefs are not able to repeat its original taste.

Interestingly, a real Worcester, before being bottled and put on the market, is aged in the basement for 3-4 for years in oak barrels. It ennobles his taste. Due to the concentrated composition, the consumption of sauce is minimal, which determines its efficiency in use. To improve the taste of the dish, all 3-5 product drops are sufficient.

Classic cooking

Worcestershire sauce, with all the desire, culinary skill and accuracy of the choice of the original ingredients, it is impossible to make at home alone. However, to prepare the seasoning, reminiscent of English concentrate is quite real. It should be borne in mind that this is a long, laborious process that takes 2 weeks.

Worcestershire Sauce

Ingredients:

• bow – 1 head;
• vinegar – 400 ml;
• anchovies – 2 pcs;
• cardamom, curry, red pepper – 2,5 g each;
• soy sauce, sugar – 100 ml each;
• tamarind – 50 g;
• salt, mustard seeds – 45 g each;
• allspice – 10 pcs;
• ginger – 1 root;
• Garlic – 2 cloves;
• cinnamon – 2 sticks;
• cloves – 5 g.

Stages of preparation:

1. Peel garlic, sprinkle with vinegar, chop.
2. Separate the onions from the husks, marinate for 2 minutes.
3. Place cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, mustard, ginger, garlic and onions in a gauze bag, tie tightly.
4. Mix soy sauce, vinegar and water, pour into a pan, add chopped tamarind, pour sugar. Place the bag in the spicy mixture, boil for 30 minutes over low heat.
5. Chop the anchovy fillets, salt and curry, add to the vinegar-soybean solution.
6. After half an hour, turn off the heat, remove the bag in a glass jar, where to drain the contents of the pan, leave to cool, then place in the refrigerator. Every day, get gauze with spices and gradually squeeze the sauce. Do this procedure for 14 days. After a week’s 2 throw away the bag, and ready to make a homemade Worchester in glass bottles, store in the refrigerator.

There is another recipe for making homemade English sauce, which involves using lemon juice instead of vinegar, and sprats instead of anchovy.

Currently, the most popular dish that has won wide popularity among consumers, is Caesar salad. The secret of its excellent taste is in the use of a special gas station, which, in its original version, necessarily includes a worchester. What to replace Worcestershire sauce? A mixture of Thai fish sauce and balsamic vinegar.

What they add and what they eat

The original Worcestershire sauce is produced exclusively under the Lea & Perrins brand. This is the only recipe owner who first created it. The Lea & Perrins brand is currently owned by the Heinz Company. Worcester’s counterparts are also produced by other firms (Cajun Power and French’s) following an approximate recipe based on Jamaican allspice, Madagascar cloves, vinegar, anchovies, garlic, English red onion, black pepper, asafoetida, tamarind. However, this product tastes differently from the original.

In China, Worcester is used to prepare marinades for vegetables, meat, fish, mushrooms, Greece – Greek salad, Spain – cold appetizers, Central America and Canada – legumes, hamburgers.

The inhabitants of Misty Albion use sauce as a seasoning for:

• boiled, stewed, fried vegetables and mushrooms;
• meat dishes (stew, roast beef);
• bread and cheese dishes (salted pastries);
• fried, boiled fish;
• hot snacks (bacon with scrambled eggs);
• croutons, sandwiches.

Classic Worcestershire sauce is not commonly served with tea, coffee, juices, sweet pastries, desserts and fruits.

Benefit and harm

Currently, due to the secrecy of the formulation, the therapeutic effect of the use of the product has not been fully determined. At the same time, its chemical composition is known, which is represented by vitamin B2, PP, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium. Worcester sauce increases the body’s resistance to stress, improves the digestive system, normalizes metabolism, increases the number of red blood cells in the blood, stimulates the functioning of the thyroid gland, protects the heart from strokes, heart attacks, and stimulates appetite.

Seasoning has a sedative effect on the body. It relieves headaches, normalizes sleep, relieves fatigue and irritation. In addition, the product relieves the state of tension, swelling of tissues, PMS, muscle spasms, helps with constipation, increases blood flow in the vessels.

Worcester is contraindicated in case of increased acidity of the stomach, allergies to seafood, obesity, diabetes, ulcers and gastritis. Store-bought sauce should be stored in a dark, cool place for no more than 1 year, and self-made “homemade” sauce – 4 days. The Worcester product is made not only in England, it is produced in North America, Japan, Brazil, Canada, USA, Australia.

It is interesting that he acquired a second home in China, which is why he received the unspoken name – Shanghai sauce. In order not to purchase a fake, you should carefully read the composition of the product prescribed on the label. The presence of soy indicates the falsification of the goods. In a real Worcester, this ingredient should not be.

Conclusion

Worcestershire sauce is a traditional liquid seasoning of English origin, served with meat, fish and vegetable dishes. It is a spicy, canned product made with over 20 ingredients. In Anglo-Saxon cuisine, it plays the role of soy sauce and teriyaki at the same time. Due to the rich sweet and sour taste, it diversifies the gastronomic bouquet of any dish. For filling one portion, as a rule, only 3 drops are enough.

The real sauce is available under two brands, Lea & Perrins and Heinz. Trying to cook the original yourself is in vain. It’s impossible. The technology and recipe for the production of Worcester are kept in the strictest confidence for over two centuries. The finished product is subject to noble aging (ripening) under conditions specially created in the cellars of the Lea & Perrins plant. Thanks to this, the taste of the sauce softens, it acquires a characteristic sourness.

Remember, any non-original recipes are nothing more than another imitation of the product. English concentrate is not recommended to be used on an ongoing basis for more than 10 drops per dose, otherwise you can cause an exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, get heartburn. In moderation, the product stimulates the secretion of the glands of the digestive tract, normalizes the state of the nervous system, relieves foci of pain, and relieves spasms.