8 Facts about Worcestershire Sauce.

Did you ever wonder about Worcestershire sauce?  My parents always had a bottle in the cupboard when I was growing up but I never new what it was.  According to the Lea & Perrin's website, in the early 1800's  a nobleman came back to his home in Worcester from Bengal and he wanted to reproduce something he'd acquired.  He hired two chemists (Lea & Perrin) to work on it.  Their initial results were so bad, they banished them down to the cellar. 

A few years later, they stumbled across their first attempt and tried it again.  It had become much better after being aged for a while. They liked this one better and soon began bottling their savory sauce composed of vinegar and spices, selling it without advertising. Word of mouth caused it to spread to kitchens across Europe.

In 1839 a gentleman began importing the sauce and soon he was importing large shipments to meet demand. At this time it was the only commercially bottled condiment on sale.  It is still quite popular in the United States and Worldwide even today. 

Interesting facts:
1.  To keep people from selling imitation bottles of Worcestershire sauce, Lea and Perrins put their signatures on every bottle.

2. When Lea and Perrins began shipping their bottles overseas, everything went by boat.  Since the sauce was in glass bottles, some often broke during transit.  So Lea and Perrin's wrapped each bottle in a paper wrap for protection.  Although it is not needed, the practice still continues.

3.  It is currently sold in over 75 countries.

4. It takes 1 to 2 years for each batch of Worcestershire sauce to ferment properly before being bottled.

5.  The sauce takes its name from the place it was originally made.

6.  A court in 1876 decided that Lea and Perrin's do not own the right to the term Worcestershire Sauce.

7.  Worcestershire sauce contains dissolved anchovies or fish.

8. In 1919, an ad state that Worcestershire sauce claimed it could help your hair grow beautifully.