Lea & Perrins (L&P) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based subsidiary of

Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is the third-largest food and beverag ...

, originating in

Worcester, England Worcester ( ) is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is south-west of Birmingham, north-west of London, north of Gloucester and north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 Census ...

where it continues to operate. It is best known as the maker of Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire sauce, which was first sold in 1837 by John Wheeley Lea and

William Henry Perrins William Henry Perrins (13 July 1793 – 6 January 1867) was an English drug-store chemist who formed a business partnership with John Wheeley Lea in 1823. They went on to create the Lea & Perrins brand of Worcestershire sauce. He lived in Lansdo ...

who were dispensing chemists from Broad Street, Worcester. It was inspired by

Marcus Sandys, 3rd Baron Sandys Arthur Marcus Cecil Sandys, 3rd Baron Sandys (28 January 1798 – 10 April 1863), known as Lord Marcus Hill until 1860, was a British Whig politician. Lea & Perrins has claimed that Sandys encountered a precursor to Worcestershire sauce whil ...

who had served in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He tasted a

fish sauce Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, La ...

there and asked Lea and Perrins to recreate it but it was putrid until it lay fermenting for three years. It is currently produced in the Midland Road factory in Worcester that Lea and Perrins built. The sauce was first imported to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

by the Duncan family of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1839 and they continued to be involved for over a hundred years. A subsidiary in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

currently manufactures an American version of the recipe.

Worcestershire sauce

Worcestershire Sauce is currently produced at the Midland Road factory in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, built by Lea and Perrins. Midland Road was named after the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

, the factory originally having rail sidings to provide raw materials and distribution. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce UK and US recipes differ slightly in that the UK recipe uses

malt vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ...

while the US version uses distilled

white vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ...

. Also, the US version used

high fructose corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...

until 2011 when they reverted to sugar due to health concerns; the UK version has always used sugar. The UK version is sold in Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Lea & Perrins uses a distinctive paper wrapper for the version sold in the United States. In the UK, the bottle is known to consumers for its shape and the orange and black label. The precise recipe has been a

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily a ...

, but an original 19th-century list of ingredients was found in a

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

at the factory in 2009 and includes vinegar,

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

, sugar, salt,

anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae. ...

extract, onions, and garlic and other ingredients which may include

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products ...

s, soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers.

Other products

While Kraft only markets a single variety of Worcestershire sauce under different sizes in the UK and in Canada, a few more products are marketed under the L&P brand in the United States. These include a reduced-sodium version of the sauce, a

steak sauce 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. Overview Steak sauce is normally br ...

, and

marinade Marinating is the process of soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine (''aqua marina'' or sea water) in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor ...

s in

peppercorn Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

and

vinaigrette Vinaigrette ( , ) is made by mixing an oil with a mild acid such as vinegar or lemon juice (citric acid). The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can also be used as a marina ...

flavours.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lea and Perrins Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom Heinz brands Brand name condiments Food brands of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Worcester, England History of Worcester, England Culture in Worcester, England Condiment companies

Worcestershire sauce

Other products

See also

References

External links