Brown sauce

Last updated
Brown sauce
Fried breakfast with brown sauce.jpg
A fried breakfast served with brown sauce
Type Condiment
Place of origin United Kingdom [1] [2] [3]
Main ingredients Tomatoes, molasses, dates, apples, tamarind, spices, vinegar

Brown sauce is a condiment that is normally dark brown in colour. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce. Brand's A.1. sauce was the first brown sauce and was introduced in 1831.

Contents

Description

Brown sauce is a condiment commonly served with food in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is normally dark brown in colour. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce. Commercial sauces are a blend of tomatoes, malt vinegar, molasses, dates, spices and tamarind.

Use

Brown sauce is typically eaten with meals such as meat pies, full breakfasts, bacon sandwiches and chips. A combination of malt vinegar (or water) and brown sauce known simply as sauce or chippy sauce is popular on fish and chips in Edinburgh. [4] [5]

History

The first brown sauce—Brand's A.1. sauce—was introduced in 1831. It was made in Vauxhall, London. [6] Although invented in the United Kingdom, it is not typically available in contemporary UK grocery stores.

In 1837, Yorkshire Relish, of a similar style to brown sauce, was created in Leeds, England. It is relatively unknown in the UK today. [7]

Although not a generally available commercial product, a recipe for "sauce for steaks" composed of ale, wine, ketchup, black pepper and butter appeared in an 1843 cookbook published in London entitled English Cookery. [8]

A brown sauce still popular today, HP Sauce, was invented in the United Kingdom by Frederick Gibson Garton in 1884 in Nottinghamshire. [1] An alternative claim states that an earlier brown sauce was created in Leicestershire by David Hoe in the 1850s, who sold his recipe to Garton. [2] [3]

Common brands

In the United Kingdom

HP Sauce on a bacon sandwich -2019-09-04 Bacon sandwich with HP sauce, Cromer.JPG
HP Sauce on a bacon sandwich

HP Sauce is the earliest brown sauce, and is the most popular brown sauce in the United Kingdom, accounting for around 75% of sales. Daddies, OK Sauce and Wilkin & Sons are other popular brands. Another is Hammonds of Yorkshire, [9] popular in Northern England. [10]

In Ireland

Chef and HP Sauce are popular brown sauce brands in Ireland. Another sauce, Yorkshire Relish, is a similar style of sauce that originated in Leeds, England in 1837, [7] and is now produced in Ireland and is currently manufactured in County Dublin under the YR Sauce brand.

Generic brands

Most supermarket chains in the UK [11] and Ireland also stock their own brand of brown sauce. As with other condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard, brown sauce is widely available in catering sachets and dispenser bottles in restaurants.

Similar products

"Steak sauce" is a similar product in the United States. [12]

Popularity

Between 2013 and 2014, the sales of brown sauces in the UK decreased by approximately 19%, according to market research company Mintel, but more than 13 million kg (29 million lb) is still consumed each year. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcestershire sauce</span> English fermented condiment

Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment invented by the pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century. The inventors went on to form the company Lea & Perrins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauce</span> Liquid, cream, or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods

In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. Sauce is a French word probably from the post-classical Latin salsa, derived from the classical salsus 'salted'. Possibly the oldest recorded European sauce is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans, while doubanjiang, the Chinese soy bean paste is mentioned in Rites of Zhou in the 3rd century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condiment</span> Substance added to food for flavour

A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavour, to enhance the flavour, or to complement the dish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chutney</span> South Asian condiments made of spices, vegetables, and fruit

A chutney is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion, or mint dipping sauce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP Sauce</span> British sauce made with tamarind

HP Sauce is a British brown sauce the main ingredients of which are tomatoes and tamarind extract. It was named after London's Houses of Parliament. After making its first appearance on British dinner tables in the late 19th century, HP Sauce went on to become an icon of British culture. It was the best-selling brand of brown sauce in the UK in 2005, with 73.8% of the retail market. The sauce was originally produced in the United Kingdom, but is now made by Heinz in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinz 57</span> Synecdoche of the historical advertising slogan "57 Varieties"

Heinz 57 is a synecdoche of the historical advertising slogan "57 Varieties" by the H. J. Heinz Company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was developed from the marketing campaign that told consumers about the numerous products available from the Heinz company.

HP Foods Limited, formerly based in Birmingham, England was best known as the producer of HP, Lea & Perrins, and Daddies sauce brands. It was also the UK licensee, from Heinz, of Chinese food and condiment brand Amoy Food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A.1. Sauce</span> Brand of brown sauce condiment

A.1. Sauce is a brand of brown sauce produced by Brand & co, a subsidiary of Premier Foods in the United Kingdom and in North America by Kraft Heinz. Sold from 1831 as a condiment for "fish, meat, fowl and game" dishes in the United Kingdom, the makers introduced the product to Canada, and later to the U.S. where it was later marketed as a steak sauce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daddies</span> Brand of ketchup and brown sauce

Daddies is a brand of ketchup and brown sauce in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steak sauce</span> Brown sauce for seasoning of steaks

Steak sauce is a tangy sauce commonly served as a condiment for beef in the United States. Two of its major producers are British companies, and the sauce is similar to the "brown sauce" of British cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lea & Perrins</span> UK condiment maker

Lea & Perrins (L&P) is a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, originating in Worcester, England where it continues to operate. It is best known as the manufacturer of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, a condiment first invented and sold in 1837 by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins from Broad Street, Worcester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henderson's Relish</span> Spicy and fruity vegan condiment similar to Worcestershire sauce

Henderson's Relish is a condiment produced in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is similar in appearance to Worcestershire sauce, but contains no anchovies. It is made of water, sugar and spirit vinegar with a selection of spices and colouring. It is gluten free, suitable for vegans and is approved by the Vegetarian Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbecue sauce</span> Sauce used as a marinade, basting, topping, or condiment

Barbecue sauce is a sauce used as a marinade, basting, condiment, or topping for meat cooked in the barbecue cooking style, including pork, beef, and chicken. It is a ubiquitous condiment in the Southern United States and is used on many other foods as well.

Chef Brown Sauce is a brown sauce established by the company "Chef" in the middle of the 20th century, after the brown sauce market had receded somewhat due to the lifting of certain ketchup production restrictions, but nonetheless managed to gain a foothold in the market. The ingredients include; Vinegar, Sugar, Apples, Barley Malt Vinegar, Water, Tomatoes, Modified Maize Starch, Oranges, Salt, Spices, and Colour: Caramel (E150D). The sauce is gluten free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mushroom ketchup</span> Style of ketchup

Mushroom ketchup is a style of ketchup that is prepared with mushrooms as its primary ingredient. Originally, ketchup in the United Kingdom was prepared with mushrooms as a primary ingredient, instead of tomato, the main ingredient in most modern preparations of ketchup. Historical preparations involved packing whole mushrooms into containers with salt. It is used as a condiment and may be used as an ingredient in the preparation of other sauces and other condiments. Several brands of mushroom ketchup were produced and marketed in the United Kingdom, some of which were exported to the United States, and some are still manufactured as a commercial product.

References

  1. 1 2 Kotecha, Ameer (2021-06-17). "The very British history of HP sauce". The Spectator. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  2. 1 2 Fortey, Neil (2021-01-30). "A Saucy tale - from Easthorpe to the Houses of Parliament". Bottesford Living History. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  3. 1 2 Murphy, Shayna (2021-09-22). "HP Sauce: The Sticky History Behind the UK's Favorite Brown Sauce". Mental Floss. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  4. "Chippie Sauce" Archived 2013-06-27 at the Wayback Machine , cooksinfo.com
  5. "Salt 'n' sauce - Scotland's culinary divide". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  6. "Brand and Co". gracesguide.co.uk.
  7. 1 2 "Goodall, Backhouse and Co". Graces Guide. 2022-06-15. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  8. English Cookery. London: Cradock & Co. 1843. p. 56.
  9. Amos, Mike (2010-08-11). "What sauce". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  10. "Hammonds Sauces - good, honest flavoursome sauces". McCormick Flavour Solutions UK. 2021-04-05. Archived from the original on 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  11. Bullard, Alexandra (2022-01-09). "'I compared HP sauce with Tesco, Lidl and Waitrose and one of them was vile'". MyLondon. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  12. Baxter-Wright, Dusty (28 March 2017). "Americans don't know what Brown Sauce is and it's mind blowing". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  13. Naylor, Tony (2015-01-05). "Brown sauce sales are falling: has Britain finally come to its senses?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  14. Hyslop, Leah (2015-01-05). "Are we falling out of love with brown sauce? Sales of brown sauce plunged by nearly a fifth last year, figures suggest". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2018-03-11.