A little Lea & Perrins with Your Meal?

Tom Hughes

Sergeant Major
Joined
May 27, 2019
Location
Mississippi
In today's society, we take for granted the wide variety of condiments available in the food market. There are just so many to choose from.
In the 19th century, people were making condiments in their own kitchens with family inherited recipes, etc.
In 1837, there arrived a "game changer" - Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sauce.


I dug up a complete Lea & Perrins bottle in a civil war army camp in west central Mississippi several years back and wanted to share on this thread.
The glass stopper has Lea & Perrins embossed in it. That was the give-away. I would have never known what it was if not for the stopper.

The sauce was a luxury I'm sure, but certainly not rare. I'm not sure if the military supplied the sauce to the soldiers that were encamped at this site or if this was supplied through other means. I do know that an identical Lea & Perrins bottle is on display at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum in Vicksburg, so at least the navy had them on their ships. Anything to make the food taste better!

Back in 1837, Lord Sandys, an English nobleman, began selling the sauce after he hired two chemists to come up with a recipe. The two chemists were:
John Lea and William Perrins, thus the name.
By 1839 the sauce was being shipped in great quantities to America, and it was a hit.

The recipe for the sauce required the ingredients to age in wooden casks for up to 18 months to enhance the smoothness and flavor.
To this day, the recipe remains a secret.

Put on the burgers and pass the Lea & Perrins...182 years of traditions can't be wrong!!

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That's quite a find! Thanks for sharing! Loved it on my steak as a child, as an adult, still a favorite though I seldom use any sauce on steak. My wife uses it in a number of recipes- such as the Shrimp Etouffee we enjoyed tonight.
A little Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and some Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce make a complete condiment tray!
 
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