Worchester sauce: composition and useful properties

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Wurster sauce, or Worcester 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.

OriginThe 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 he brought the recipe home after a trip to India.

Today it is believed that Lee and Perrins first tried to make the sauce in the 1830s, but they did not like it and was left in the basement of their pharmacy, and then completely forgotten. It wasn't until the barrels of 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 were released to the general public.sauce.

The High Court held on July 26, 1876 that the Lea & Perrins brand had no right to the name "Worchester Sauce" and therefore could not be a trademark. The company claims that their sauce 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 Worcester on the Midland Road, where it is still being 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.

• Worchester sauce can act as an alternative to soy sauce if you want to update your marinade recipe and add new flavors. 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 taste of chili and otherthick soups.

Try adding this sauce to your regular meals and your taste buds will surely be pleasantly surprised.

Composition

Ingredients listed on a traditional bottle of Worcestershire Sauce sold in the UK:

• Barley m alt vinegar.
• Sugar cane vinegar.
• Melassa.
• Sugar.
• Table s alt.
• Anchovies.
• Tamarind extract.
• Bow.
• Garlic.
• Spices.
• Flavors (soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers).

The anchovies in 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 replace Worcestershire sauce? You can use soy sauce or teriyaki sauce instead. There are many alternatives on the market today.

Calories

Worchester sauce in its classic version has 78 kilocalories per 100 grams.

Distribution of key macro- and micronutrients:

• 0g fat.
• 0g protein.
• 19g carbs (of which 10g sugar).
• 980 mg sodium.
• 800 mg potassium.
• 107 mg calcium.
• 13 mg magnesium.
• 13mg Vitamin C.
• 5, 3mg iron.
• 0 mg cholesterol.

Benefit

Worchester sauce adds flavor to chicken, turkey, beef, pasta andsalads, but the taste of dishes is not the only advantage that it has. The sauce contains vitamins that can help improve he alth. Let's take a look at the benefits of adding Worcestershire sauce to your diet.

• 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 he althy.
• An added benefit is he althy skin. 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 skin appearance and control hair loss.
• The sauce is made with ingredients containing vitamin C such as garlic, onion, cloves and chili. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant that may help prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. Younger skin is another benefit 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 indigestion, 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 he althy mindset. It can also help those suffering from seasickness.

Harm

Despite the fact that the sauce has undeniable 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 s alt in some variations of Worcestershire sauce does not allow it to be classified as an exceptionally he althy product. The most important thing is to know the measure and not to abuse it.

Variations

Today, 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 m alt vinegar, which contains gluten.
• Vegetarian. Some versions of the sauce are vegetarian and may be formulated without anchovies.
• Low sodium. Lea & Perrins and some other brands make lower sodium versions. They are designed for people with high sodium levels in their blood.or for those who don't like very s alty 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 characteristics of the production and use of the sauce, let's look at some of them.

• Worchester Sauce is commonly known as "English Sauce" in Denmark.
• The sauce is extremely popular in El Salvador, where many restaurants have a bottle of it on every table. More than 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 US version of the sauce is different from the British recipe. It uses distilled white vinegar rather than m alt vinegar. In addition, it has three times more sugar and sodium. This makes the American version of the sauce sweeter and s altier 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 dish of the same name."Tonkatsu" - breaded fried pork chops. Both the dish and sauce are believed to have been adopted from English cuisine brought to Japan in the 19th century.

Results

So, we have considered the history of creation, composition, benefits, harm and calorie content of Worcestershire sauce. Now you know how to use it to improve the taste of your favorite dishes.