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 commonly served with food in the United Kingdom and Ireland, normally dark brown in colour. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce.

Contents

Commercial sauces are a blend of tomatoes, malt vinegar, molasses, dates, spices and tamarind.

Brown sauce is typically eaten with meals such as 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 was HP Sauce, invented in the United Kingdom by Frederick Gibson Garten in the 1890s 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 Garten. [2] [3]

Another sauce, Yorkshire Relish, is of a similar style to brown sauce and originated in Leeds, England in 1837, and is relatively unknown in the UK today. [6]

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. [7]

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, [8] popular in Northern England. [9]

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, [6] 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 [10] 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

Many countries have their own sauces which are similar to brown sauce, often containing comparable flavour profiles, ingredients, and uses. Examples include Japan's tonkatsu sauce and Jamaica's Pickapeppa sauce. "Steak sauce" is a similar product in the United States. [11]

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. [12] [13]

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">Fish and chips</span> Hot dish of fried fish and fried potato

Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of fried fish in batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who combined them. Often considered Britain's national dish, fish and chips is a common takeaway food in numerous other countries, particularly English-speaking and Commonwealth nations.

<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 flavor, to enhance the flavour, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separately from the food and is added to taste by the diner.

<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.

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. A.1. sauce is still produced in England and exported to Asia. In May 2014, Kraft Foods in North America announced it was dropping the word "steak" from the A.1. name, reverting to A.1. Sauce, to "reflect modern dining habits".

<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">Hot dog variations</span> Ways to serve the "hot dog" style of sausage from around the world

Different areas of the world have local variations on the hot dog, in the type of meat used, the condiments added, and its means of preparation.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCoy's (crisp)</span> UK crisps brand

McCoy's is a brand of crinkle-cut crisps made in the United Kingdom by KP Snacks. It was first produced in 1985 and is marketed under the slogan "The Real McCoy's – Accept No Imitations", exploiting the Scottish idiom "the real McCoy". McCoy's is the third biggest brand in the bagged crisps market, with 5 million packets consumed each week and nearly a third of all UK households consuming the product. It was once promoted by United Biscuits "as the only overtly male-targeted crisp brand".

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", cooksinfo.com
  5. "Salt 'n' sauce - Scotland's culinary divide". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  6. 1 2 "Goodall, Backhouse and Co". Graces Guide. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  7. English Cookery. London: Cradock & Co. 1843. p. 56.
  8. Amos, Mike (2010-08-11). "What sauce". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  9. "Hammonds Sauces - good, honest flavoursome sauces". McCormick Flavour Solutions UK. 2021-04-05. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  10. Bullard, Alexandra (2022-01-09). "'I compared HP sauce with Tesco, Lidl and Waitrose and one of them was vile'". MyLondon. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  11. Baxter-Wright, Dusty (28 March 2017). "Americans don't know what Brown Sauce is and it's mind blowing". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  12. Naylor, Tony (2015-01-05). "Brown sauce sales are falling: has Britain finally come to its senses?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  13. 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. Retrieved 2018-03-11.