Thursday 23 April 2009

GLOSSARY: WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE OR LEA AND PERRINS SAUCE


WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE (aka Worcester sauce or spelled phonetically as Wuster sauce or simply known as LEA & PERRINS) is a fermented liquid condiment first made at 68 Broad Street, Worcester United Kingdom, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins. The LEA & PERRINS brand was made commercially in 1837 and remains the only WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE still to be made in the UK. In 1930 the business was sold to HP Foods and was subsequently acquired by the H.J. Heinz Company in 2005.

The product is made and bottled in the Midlands Road factory in Worcester, which has been the home of Lea & Perrins since 16 October 1897.

The H. J. Heinz Company, which now manufactures "THE ORIGINAL LEA & PERRINS WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE", under label LEA & PERRINS, Inc., lists the following ingredients on the label of a bottle produced in the United States: vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic, tamarind concentrate, cloves, natural flavorings and chili pepper extract.

The ingredients of a bottle of WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE from England sold under the name "THE ORIGINAL & GENUINE LEA & PERRINS WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE" by LEA & PERRINS Ltd., lists the following ingredients: water, molasses, malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice and flavouring. The LEA AND PERRINS sold in Australia is manufactured in England.

It is a flavouring used in many dishes, both cooked and uncooked, and particularly with grilled and barbequed meats such as beef; and drinks, such as the Bloody Mary. It is safe to say that it is considered the western equivalent of the soy sauce.

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE plays a significant part in the cuisine of Asian regions which have seen significant exposure to Western cuisine.

In Cantonese cuisine, WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE was introduced in the 19th century via Hong Kong and is today used in dim sum items such as steamed beef meatballs and spring rolls. The Cantonese name for this sauce is "gip-jap". It is also used in a variety of Hong Kong-style Chinese and "Western" dishes.

In Shanghainese cuisine, the use of WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE spread from European-style restaurants in the 19th and 20th century to its use as an ingredient in ubiquitous, Eastern European-inspired dishes such as Shanghai-style borscht, and as a dipping sauce in Western fusion foods such as Shanghai-style breaded pork cutlets. It is also commonly used for Chinese foods such as the shengjian mantou, which are small, pan-fried pork buns. In Shanghai, WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE is called "luh jiangyou", literally "spicy soy sauce". After imported Worcestershire sauce became scarce in Shanghai after 1949, a variety of local brands appeared. These are now in turn exported around the world for use in Shanghai-style dishes.

Japanese WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE, often simply known as sōsu ("sauce"), or Usutā sōsu ("Worcester sauce") is made from purees of fruits and vegetables such as apples and tomatoes, matured with sugar, salt, spices, starch and caramel. Despite this appellation, it bears only moderate resemblance to Western Worcestershire sauce. Sōsu comes in a variety of thickness, with the thicker sauces looking and tasting like a cross between the original WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE and HP sauce.

There are many variations according to flavour and thickness, and are often named after the foods they are designed to go with, such as okonomiyaki sauce and tonkatsu sauce. These sauces, however, and others that are worcestershire relatives are much closer in taste to American barbeque sauce. These variants have become a staple table sauce in Japan, particularly in homes and canteens, since the 1950s. It is used for dishes such as tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets), okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes), takoyaki, yakisoba, yaki udon, sōsu katsudon and korokke.

Source: Wikipedia

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