Worcestershire sauce use. Worcestershire sauce: homemade recipes. From the history of Worcestershire sauce

Worcestershire sauce, or Worcestershire sauce, is a fermented liquid condiment created from seemingly incompatible ingredients by chemists John Willie Lee and William Henry Perrins, founders of Lea & Perrins. The anchovies used in the sauce are fermented in vinegar for 18 months before blending and bottling in Worcester, where the exact recipe is still a closely guarded secret.

In this article, we will look at the history of the creation of the sauce, its composition, benefits and harms, calories, variations, as well as various dishes to which it is added.

History of creation

A fermented fish sauce called "garum" was a staple of Greco-Roman cuisine and the Mediterranean economy of the Roman Empire. The use of similar fermented anchovy sauces in Europe can be traced back to the 17th century.

The origin of the original recipe for Worcestershire sauce is still unclear. The packaging originally stated that the sauce came from a "county nobleman's recipe". The company's founders also claimed that a certain Lord Marcus Sandys, a former governor of Bengal who had returned from India with the East India Company in the 1830s, had commissioned them to recreate a recipe for a special sauce. However, the writer Brian Keough concluded in his privately published history of Lea & Perrins, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Midland Road mill, that no Lord Sandys has ever been Governor of Bengal or, as far as any record shows, ever of India. .

There is also a version about a certain Captain Henry Lewis Edward (1788-1866), who was a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and served as deputy lieutenant of Carmarthenshire. It is believed that it was he who brought the recipe home after a trip to India.

Today, it is believed that Lee and Perrins first tried making the sauce in the 1830s, but it turned out to be not to their taste and was left in the basement of their pharmacy, and then completely forgotten. It wasn't until the barrels of the sauce were discovered and opened many months later that the taste of the sauce improved, softened, and became similar to what is now known as Worcestershire sauce.

Lea & Perrins itself was founded in 1837 and continues to be the world's leading brand for the production of this sauce. In 1838, the first bottles of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce were released to the general public.

The High Court held on July 26, 1876 that the Lea & Perrins brand had no right to the name "Worchester Sauce" and therefore it could not be a trademark. The company claims that it is their sauce that is original, but other brands offer similar recipes.

On October 16, 1897, Lea & Perrins moved the production of the sauce from their pharmacy to a factory in the town of Worcester on the Midland Road, where it is still made. The plant produces finished bottles for domestic sales and concentrate for bottling abroad.

Application

What is Worcestershire sauce used for? It is a complex and specific product in terms of taste and aroma. It is often used in recipes to enhance various foods and drinks.

For example, it is an ingredient in dishes such as Welsh cheese toast, Caesar salad, Kilpatrick oysters, chili con carne, beef stew, or other beef dishes. Sauce is also often added for flavor to Bloody Marys and Caesars.

Worcestershire sauce can act as an alternative to soy sauce if you want to update your marinade recipe and add new flavors. It is suitable for tofu, meat or poultry.
The sauce enhances and complements the flavor of complex meat dishes. For example, it can be stews and even simple grilled burgers.
This sauce can also be used in soup. It is great for bringing out the flavor of chili and other thick soups.

Try adding this sauce to your usual dishes, and your taste buds will surely be pleasantly surprised.

Compound

The ingredients listed on the traditional bottle of Worcestershire Sauce sold in the UK are:

Barley malt vinegar.
Vinegar from sugar cane.
Molasses.
Sugar.
Salt.
Anchovies.
Tamarind extract.
Garlic.
Spices.
Flavors (soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers).

Anchovies, which are part of the sauce, are often a concern for people who are allergic to fish, vegetarians, vegans, and those who, for one reason or another, avoid eating fish.

What can you substitute for Worcestershire sauce? You can use soy sauce or teriyaki sauce instead. There are many alternatives on the market today.

calories

For 100 grams, the calorie content of Worcestershire sauce in its classic version is 78 kilocalories.

Distribution of the main macro- and micronutrients:

0 g fat.
0 g protein.
19 g of carbohydrates (of which 10 g of sugar).
980 mg sodium.
800 mg potassium.
107 mg calcium.
13 mg magnesium.
13 mg of vitamin C.
5.3 mg of iron.
0 mg cholesterol.

Benefit

Worcestershire sauce adds flavor to chicken, turkey, beef, pasta, and salads, but flavor isn't the only benefit it has. The sauce contains vitamins that can help improve health. Let's see what exactly the benefits of adding Worcestershire sauce to the diet can bring.

The sauce has the ability to activate the immune system, as it contains vitamin B6 (molasses, garlic, cloves and chili). The vitamin helps build red blood cells and keep the nervous system healthy.
Healthy skin is an added benefit. Some of the sauce ingredients (anchovies, cloves, and chili pepper extracts) contain vitamin E, which also helps boost the immune system. They act as antioxidants that provide anti-aging protection, improve the appearance of the skin, and control hair loss.
The sauce is made with ingredients containing vitamin C such as garlic, onion, cloves and chili peppers. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. Younger skin is another result, as vitamin C is involved in the production of collagen, which is the main part of connective tissue.
Vitamin K provides protection against hemorrhage. It is especially beneficial for women who have heavy periods as it helps to reduce the amount of blood lost. Vitamin K also helps to stop the destruction of bone tissue. Sauce products containing vitamin K are anchovies, cloves, and chili peppers.
Niacin from anchovies helps in digestion, normalizes the condition of the joints in people suffering from osteoarthritis.
Thiamin, found in onions and chili peppers, benefits the nervous system and promotes a healthy mindset. It can also help those suffering from seasickness.

Harm

Despite the fact that the sauce has undoubted benefits, it contains ingredients that can cause allergies. Therefore, people who are allergic to anchovies or gluten should eliminate this sauce from their diet or look for a safe substitute.

Also, the excessive content of sugar and salt in some variations of Worcestershire sauce does not allow it to be classified as an exceptionally healthy product. The most important thing is to know the measure and not to abuse it.

Variations

To date, there are a large number of options for Worcestershire sauce on the market, the composition is for every taste. Below are some of them.

Gluten free. The popularity of gluten-free diets may be one reason why the American version of Worcestershire sauce is made using distilled white vinegar rather than malt vinegar, which contains gluten.
Vegetarian. Some versions of the sauce are vegetarian and may have an anchovy-free formulation.
Low sodium. Lea & Perrins and some other brands make lower sodium versions. They are intended for people with high sodium levels in their blood or for those who do not like very salty sauces.
Homemade sauce. It's relatively easy to make your own sauce at home, but it comes with a long list of ingredients. But you can experiment and make your perfect sauce.

Analogues in other countries

Different countries have their own peculiarities in the production and use of sauce, let's consider some of them.

In Denmark, Worcestershire sauce is commonly known as "English Sauce".
The sauce is extremely popular in El Salvador, where many restaurants have a bottle of it on every table. Over 120,000 gallons are consumed annually, the highest per capita consumption in the world.
The American version (Worchester Sauce in the photo above), unlike the British version, is packaged in a dark bottle with a beige label and wrapped in paper. This practice was a protection measure for bottles in the 19th century when the product was imported by ship from England.
Interestingly, the version of the sauce sold in the US differs from the British recipe. It uses distilled white vinegar rather than malt vinegar. In addition, it has three times more sugar and sodium. This makes the American version of the sauce sweeter and saltier than those sold in the UK and Canada.
Japan has its own version of the sauce, which, unlike Worcestershire sauce, is completely vegetarian. This sauce is known as "Tonkatsu Sauce" and is most often used as a condiment for the Tonkatsu dish of the same name - breaded fried pork chops. It is believed that both the dish and the sauce were adopted from English cuisine brought to Japan in the 19th century.

Results

So, we examined the history of creation, composition, benefits, harms and calorie content of Worcester sauce. Now you know how to use it to improve the taste of your favorite dishes.

Why make the most complicated Worcestershire sauce at home? Firstly, because it is not always available in stores, secondly, because it is expensive, and thirdly, because it is just interesting.

Surely you have heard the name of this English sauce at least once. Perhaps you have even tried the sauce in dishes, because it can be found in stores. And if they didn’t find it or found it too expensive for themselves, they refused to cook some dishes. And there are many such dishes, because the sauce with a slight taste of slightly rotten fish is the king of glazes and marinades for meat, especially when it comes to grilling or barbecue. By the way, it is Worcestershire sauce that is part of the Bloody Mary cocktail, turning a mixture of tomato juice and vodka into a drink whose taste will be remembered for a lifetime. And it was he, Worcestershire sauce, who turned out to be an accidental participant in the culinary improvisation, as a result of which was born.

If you ask what can replace Worcestershire sauce, I will answer firmly: nothing. Think for yourself, more than 15 ingredients! And the cooking process is breathtaking! If you cook the sauce according to all the rules (which English chefs are silent about, because the recipe is a trade secret), you will have to mix anchovies marinated in brine, soybeans, molasses (black molasses), tamarind (date variety), garlic soaked in vinegar , chili, cloves, cardamom, shallots, sugar and a few more spices. Then you will age this mixture for 2 years, or 700 days, after which, stirring occasionally, strain and bottle. Like? Here I am about the same.

What do you want to do impatient and economical (the sauce is quite expensive)? Making Worcestershire sauce at home - that's what! Of course, you won’t be able to get an authentic one, but it’s very close in taste - very much so. The main condition is to insist on it as well as possible. As for the ingredients, after cooking I want to give you the following advice: it’s better to take shallots, anchovies (if you’re lucky to buy fresh ones, I’m not lucky), marinate, for example, or take Italian ones in a spicy marinade in the store, and instead of burnt you can use.

Worcestershire sauce has a very strong taste and unique aroma. This makes it not so much a sauce as a spice, seasoning, accent. It is enough to introduce quite a bit of sauce into the dish, make it with a Worcester "accent" - and it will be transformed.

Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 3-4 weeks for steeping
Finished product yield: about 300 ml

Ingredients

1 cup white or red wine vinegar
zhzhenka 50 ml
soy sauce 50 ml
sugar 50 grams
lime juice 25 ml
anchovies 2 fillets
hot pepper 1 pod
fresh ginger 1 small root
garlic 1 clove
cinnamon 1 stick
bulb half head
grains of yellow / white mustard 1.5 tbsp. spoons
salt 1.5 tbsp. spoons
black peppercorns 0.5 tbsp. spoons
cloves 0.5 tbsp. spoons
curry seasoning 0.25 tbsp. spoons
cardamom 3 boxes

Cooking

Crush the cardamom pods in a mortar. Inside you will see seeds - they contain the main aroma.

In a small saucepan, send salt, mustard, curry, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns.

Finely chop the garlic, cut the onion into small cubes, and cut the hot pepper into rings without cleaning out the seeds.

Grate the ginger root on a fine grater - when grated, it will take 1 teaspoon.

Squeeze the juice out of the lime.

Finely chop the anchovy fillets.

Send the garlic, onion, pepper, ginger and lime juice to a saucepan with spices. Drain the lime juice, zhzhenka and soy sauce there.

Then add vinegar to it.

Put the saucepan on the fire and bring the mass to a boil. Simmer the Worcestershire sauce for 10 minutes from the point of boiling.
At the same time, melt the sugar and cook a simple caramel, which you also add to the sauce.

Simmer the sauce for another 5 minutes.

After that, pour the sauce into a glass jar and refrigerate for 3-4 weeks. Shake the container of sauce well 1-2 times a week.
When the sauce is infused, strain it through a fine sieve.

Store the finished sauce in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

There are few examples in traditional English cuisine that can surprise us. Nevertheless, one thing is known all over the world, and its taste characteristics still cause fierce debate. This is Worcestershire sauce, or the more familiar name is Worcestershire sauce. Made using the process of natural fermentation of ingredients, Worcestershire is considered one of the most unique inventions in cooking, as a rare seasoning that combines sweetness, piquancy and spiciness at the same time. With just one drop, seasoning can transform the taste of a dish, revealing completely new facets of it.

The sauce recipe is very unusual and time-consuming to execute, not to mention the fact that its preparation requires a lot of time. Of course, it does not correspond to the original version of the seasoning, but it becomes that quite worthy product, which is the best way to replace the real sauce.

You will need:

Servings - 8

Preparation time - 1 month

All ingredients

It is best to start preparing the dressing by preparing all its components. First of all, anchovies. The recipe suggests the use of dried fish, since it takes more time to fully process the raw product - therefore, the sauce will need to stand as long as possible. If it was not possible to find dried fish in time, you can cook it yourself by lightly frying it in a pan.

The fish is cut into small pieces and briefly set aside.
All the spices listed in the recipe - cinnamon, cardamom, curry, mustard and cloves - are lightly kneaded in a mortar and then poured into a saucepan. Salt is added to them.
Ginger must be rubbed on a fine grater. Onion and garlic are cut into small pieces. Juice is squeezed out of half a lime. The crushed products and juice are sent to the ladle - to the spices.

Cooking process

Worcestershire sauce includes a fairly large variety of ingredients, and some of them must be prepared in advance, for example, caramel. The process itself cannot be called laborious, but you will have to face some troubles, so it is recommended that you first try the finished Worcestershire sauce in a restaurant or buy it in a supermarket so that the work is not in vain.

Soy sauce is poured into a mixture of ginger, onion, garlic and spices, and the stewpan is sent to the stove. After boiling, vinegar and half of the prepared portion of sugar are added to the workpiece. The mass is again brought to a boil, then the fire is reduced, and the Worcestershire sauce simmers for 10 minutes.
While the workpiece is slowly boiling, it is necessary to prepare the caramel mixture. To do this, the second part of the sugar needs to be poured with water and boiled over low heat, stirring constantly. First, the sugar will dissolve, and then the mass will begin to acquire a pleasant brown hue - this is a sign that the caramel is ready. It is added to the boiling mixture, after which it continues to cook for another 5 minutes.
The last pieces of anchovy are sent to the dressing. With them, the mass is cooked for another 10 minutes, and then removed from the heat and cooled. When the sauce has cooled, it must be passed through a sieve. The liquid is poured into a transparent jar with a lid, and the mixture of spices and anchovy is carefully wrapped in a clean cloth (best of all, gauze), forming a kind of bag. This bag is placed in a jar, which is closed and put in the refrigerator.

In the future, the procedure for preparing the seasoning will look like this: in the first week, you need to lightly squeeze the bag into a jar of sauce every day. With the beginning of the second week, it can be removed from the jar, and the Worcestershire sauce itself is sent back to the refrigerator for another 3 weeks. The result is a fragrant liquid seasoning that combines sweet caramel notes, anchovy zest and lime tartness.

Innings

Worcestershire sauce can be served with almost any dish. It is ideal with all kinds of meat and poultry dishes, from chicken legs to pork and beef cutlets. Worcestershire sauce will also be a good companion for fish or various fish dishes. Seafood - mussels, shrimp and crabs - are combined with it just fine, instantly turning into an exemplary snack. You can use the Worcester in the process of making soup, adding it to the frying, as well as for roasts, some salads and snacks with smoked fish.

Enjoy your meal!

In contact with

Why do-it-yourself "Caesar" is different from the restaurant? The secret is in Worcestershire sauce, a unique English condiment that is added to salad dressing to make it unique.

It has many names - Worcestershire, Worcestershire, Worcestershire, Worcestershire sauce. The taste is sweet and sour, and thanks to an unusual combination of more than 30 ingredients, it is spicy and unlike anything else.

Although Worcestershire sauce has gained unprecedented popularity, finding a natural product, even in large supermarkets, is not so easy.

Most often, they pass it off as an ordinary fake, only vaguely resembling an exquisite seasoning.

And sometimes you just don’t want to spend a fortune on a cherished bottle, because just a few drops of a concentrated ingredient are enough to add zest to any dish. Therefore, lovers of restaurant dishes are often interested in replacing Worcestershire sauce.

The composition and features of the original Worcester

Real Worcestershire sauce is not brewed, but aged in oak barrels for at least 2 years, which complicates its production at home. Plus, the proportions of the sauce and production technology are still kept secret.

Interesting fact! Worcestershire sauce is named after the British county of Worcestershire, where it was invented in the distant 19th century by two pharmacists, W. Perrinsky and D. Lea. Later they registered their own brand Lea & Perrins, but commercial production was established only after 60 years.

The history of Worcester is shrouded in secrets and legends. According to one of them, the sauce was made to order and failed the first time. They simply forgot about it, and a few years later they found an unsuccessful dusty sample in the cellar, tried it and were shocked by the taste that had changed over time.

Worcestershire sauce is not only original, but also versatile. At home, it is added to marinades, stews, scrambled eggs, to many hot and cold snacks, and even sandwiches are flavored with it.

However, the classic Caesar salad, the legendary Bloody Mary cocktail and the unique roast beef cooked according to an old English recipe brought enormous popularity to Worcester.

Curious! For the British, Worcestershire is as popular as soy sauce for the Chinese or teriyaki for the Japanese.

An approximate list of ingredients from which the original Worcester is made:

drinking water;
anchovies (small fish);
vinegar;
burnt sugar;
onion;
Bay leaf;
horseradish;
a mixture of different peppers, salt;
tamarind (a fruit of the legume family);
chilli;
celery;
lemon juice;
meat extract;
asafoetida (seasoning made from tree resin);

Curious! Lea & Perrins is the official supplier of the Worcester to the Royal Court of England.

What can you substitute for Worcestershire sauce?

Not a single ingredient will give such an effect as Worcester. But you can still try to replace it. The taste of a salad dressing or marinade, for example, can be enhanced with:

9% or apple cider vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar.
Grated sour berries.
Soy sauce.
Mixes balsamic with Thai sauce.
A mixture of soy sauce and fish.

Of course, such variations are not even close to Worcestershire sauce, so some enthusiasts prepare their own seasoning, which, although not quite, still resembles the original in taste and aroma. But keep in mind that this process is very laborious and takes a lot of time.

How to make your own Worcestershire sauce:

Place in doubled gauze: 2 cloves of minced garlic, sprinkle with 9% vinegar, 1 grated ginger root, 1 tsp. cloves, 0.5 cardamom, 1 tsp. black peppercorns, 2 pinches of red pepper, 3 tbsp. l. mustard seeds, 2 cinnamon sticks. Finely chop 1 onion and marinate in vinegar for 3 minutes, then add to the rest of the ingredients.
Pour 100 g of cold water into a saucepan, pour 1.5 cups of vinegar and half a cup of soy sauce into it.
Add a quarter cup of crushed tamarind and half the sugar. Mix thoroughly until all sugar grains are dissolved.
Place a tightly tied bag into the water and boil, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
At this time, finely chop 2 anchovies, add 0.5 tsp to them. dry curry, add a little water and place in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients, about 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
After the time has elapsed, pour the resulting mixture into a convenient glass jar. Put the bag of spices in there.
Put in a cold place and periodically remove the bag, squeeze its contents into the sauce and put back. Repeat this procedure once a day.
After 2 weeks, pour the sauce into a bottle, preferably glass, tightly close with a cork and refrigerate.

On a note! If you have difficulty finding anchovies, replace them with sprats or sardelles (spicy fish). You can use lemon juice instead of vinegar.

How to make caesar sauce without a worcester

Boil one poached egg. To do this, boil water well, beat an egg without shell into it and boil for just a few seconds. The protein will immediately curl up.
Transfer the boiled egg to the mixer bowl, add 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice, a quarter of mustard, a drop of tabasco (the sauce is very spicy!). Start whisking, adding olive oil (3 tablespoons) in a thin stream.
Finely chop 3 anchovies, add to the bowl and beat again.
At the very end, pour in a quarter tsp. balsamic and a couple of drops of Thai fish sauce.
Pour the prepared sauce and salt to taste.

Do you know what Worcestershire sauce is? Few homeowners have heard of this. Let's try to figure it out together and find out something about this sauce in more detail. So, Worcestershire sauce is a versatile, popular and very concentrated seasoning of English cuisine with a rich bright burgundy color, on a base with a spicy taste.

It consists of one third of tomato paste, and the rest of the volume is occupied by about 25 more ingredients, including Jamaican and black pepper, hot chili pepper, walnut extract, ginger, cloves, mushroom decoction, garlic, flour, salt and wine.

The use of Worcestershire sauce is quite wide. It is used in meat stews and fried dishes, flavored with hot appetizers, boiled and fried fish. This condiment was invented in Britain about a century and a half ago. It has an original, pleasant and piquant sweet and sour taste.

Classic Worcestershire sauce is produced only in an industrial way. The production technology of the sauce popular in most countries, of course, is kept in strict confidence. Real Worcestershire sauce is very concentrated, therefore it is used literally in drops in dishes. Let's learn with you how to make Worcestershire sauce at home.

At home, we are unlikely to be able to properly prepare a real sauce. The fact is that all culinary guides usually contain ingredients for making 10 kg of ready-made sauce. And for such a quantity of product, we need microscopic doses of some spices. For example, 1 g of bay leaf and ginger, chili pepper, 4 g of nutmeg, etc. Ready seasoning can be stored at room temperature for 2 years if the bottle is unopened. Once opened, the sauce is best refrigerated. Since it is very concentrated, you need to use it in 3 drops per serving.

Worcestershire salad dressing recipe

Ingredients:

chicken egg - 2 pcs.;
lemon - 0.5 pcs.;
olive oil - 100 ml;
Parmesan cheese - 30 g;
French mustard - 20 g;
Worcestershire sauce - a few drops;
spices - to taste.

Cooking

We thoroughly wash the eggs in warm water, bring to a boil, turn off the fire immediately and carefully pierce each egg with a needle. Then again lower them into hot water and leave to lie there for exactly a minute. This time we take a lemon, cut it and squeeze the juice from one half into a separate bowl. Now we take out a blender or a whisk, chop the eggs with a knife, pour the liquid part of the egg into a blender cup, and pick out a layer of protein from the shells with a spoon. Salt everything and beat thoroughly, pouring in lemon juice gradually and continuing to stir.

Then grate hard cheese on a grater, pour it into the egg mass and mix well again. After that, add a few drops of classic Worcestershire sauce, put sandwich mustard and sprinkle with ground black pepper to taste. Beating the contents of the glass with a blender, pour in a thin stream of olive oil and bring everything to a homogeneous mass. Dress the prepared Caesar salad with the resulting sauce and serve the dish to the table.