Worcestershire sauce

Worcestershire sauce (IPA: /ˈwʊstə(ɹ)ʃ(ɪ)ə(r)/ ("wuster-shur" or "wuster-sheer")) is a widely used fermented liquid condiment originally manufactured by Lea & Perrins, in Midland Road, Worcester, England. The genuine product, manufactured to the original recipe, available in the U.K., comprises malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spices, and flavouring. It is a flavouring used in many dishes, both cooked and uncooked, and particularly with beef. It is an important ingredient in Caesar salad and in a Bloody Mary. Lea & Perrins supplies it in concentrate form to be bottled abroad.

Worcestershire sauce is generically referred to as Worcester sauce (IPA: /ˈwʊstə(ɹ)/) when not manufactured by Lea and Perrins. It may contain vinegar, molasses, corn syrup, water, chili peppers, soy sauce, pepper, tamarinds, anchovies, onions, shallots, cloves, asafoetida and garlic.

Though a fermented fish sauce called garum was a staple of Greco-Roman cuisine and of the Mediterranean economy of the Roman Empire, "Worcestershire sauce" is one of the many legacies of British contact with India. While some sources trace comparable fermented anchovy sauces in Europe to the 17th century, this one became popular in the 1830s.