A fermented fish sauce called garum was a staple of Greco-Roman cuisine and of the Mediterranean economy of the Roman Empire, as the first-century encyclopedist Pliny the Elder writes in his Historia Naturalis and the fourth/fifth-century Roman culinary text Apicius includes garum in its recipes. The use of similar fermented anchovy sauces in Europe can be traced back to the 17th century.
“The story of Lea & Perrins famous Worcestershire Sauce begins in the early 1800s, in the county of Worcester. Returning home from his travels in Bengal, Lord Sandys, a nobleman of the area, was eager to duplicate a recipe he’d acquired. On Lord Sandys’ request, two chemists—John Lea and William Perrins—made up the first batch of the sauce.
Lea and Perrins were not impressed with their initial results. The pair found the taste unpalatable, and simply left the jars in their cellar to gather dust. A few years later, they stumbled across them and decided to taste the contents again. To their delight, the aging process had turned it into a delicious, savory sauce.
Soon Mr. Lea and Mr. Perrins began bottling their special blend of vinegars and seasonings. Without any kind of advertising, in just a few short years, it was known and coveted in kitchens throughout Europe.
In 1839, John Duncan, a New York entrepreneur, ordered a small quantity of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. In the space of a few short years Duncan was importing large shipments to keep up with demand. Lea & Perrins was the only commercially bottled condiment in the U.S., and Americans loved it right away. Almost 170 years later, Lea & Perrins sauce remains a favorite in households across the U.S.
To this day, the recipe remains a closely guarded secret and only a privileged few know the exact ingredients. To protect the sauce from other imitators, the famous Lea & Perrins® signature was put on the label of the bottle, as it appears today. Lea & Perrins remains true to the spirit of the original recipe, combining the finest ingredients from around the world and aging them to perfection to produce a richer, smoother flavor unmatched for over 175 years.
Worcestershire can be properly pronounced a few ways: “WUST-ter-shire, “WOOS-ter-sheer”, or “WOOS-ter-sher” sauce.” Source: http://www.leaperrins.com
Since the weather is summery here I took out my BBQ, dusted it and made it ready to be used. Every Sunday is BBQ time for us and I pick a type of meat to grill. That past week was beef tenderloin and I paired it with a cognac sauce and mashed potatoes. It was simply amazing. Worcestershire sauce gave that condiment such a beautiful flavor.
- 6 small or 3 large beef tenderloins 2 cm / thick
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 chopped shallot
- ½ cup Cognac
- 3 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 4 small sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ½ cup evaporated milk 7.5% fat
- 2 tsp. mix of two peppers, pink and green grated
- ¼ cup graviera cheese or if you cannot find it, gruyere, grated
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add the shallot and sauté, until tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add the Cognac, turn the heat up to high, and boil until it has reduced to half, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the stock and thyme and boil until it has reduced to just over 1 cup, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Discard the thyme sprigs.
- Stir in the cream and black pepper and lower the heat to have a gentle boil.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced to 2 cups about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the graviera cheese or gruyere, mustard, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce.
- When the cheese has melted, check and if necessary season with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice.
- With a stick blender mash the onion chunks and everything that was left from the thyme into a fine textured sauce.
- When sauce is in the middle of getting ready, fire up your BBQ, salt and pepper the beef tenderloins and grill them.
- In mine it takes about 3 minutes per side for this thickness.
- Serve with the sauce and mashed potatoes.
- 6 μικρά ή 3 μεγάλα μοσχαρίσια φιλέτα πάχους 2 cm
- 2 κ.σ. Βούτυρο
- 1 κρεμμύδι ψιλοκομμένο
- ½ φλ. κονιάκ
- 3 φλ. χαμηλής περιεκτικότητας σε αλάτι ζωμό κοτόπουλου
- 4 μικρά κλωναράκια φρέσκο θυμάρι
- 1 ½ φλ. κρέμα γάλακτος 35% λιπαρά
- ½ φλ. γάλα εβαπορέ 7,5% λιπαρά
- 2 κ.γ. μείγμα από δύο πιπέρια, ροζ και πράσινο τριμμένα
- ¼ φλ. γραβιέρα
- 2 κ.γ. μουστάρδα Ντιζόν
- 2 κ.γ. φρέσκο χυμό λεμονιού
- 2 κ.γ. γουόστερ σος
- Λιώνουμε το βούτυρο σε μια κατσαρόλα σε μέτρια-χαμηλή φωτιά.
- Προσθέτουμε το κρεμμύδι και σοτάρουμε, μέχρι να μαλακώσει, περίπου 3 λεπτά.
- Προσθέτουμε το κονιάκ, γυρίζουμε τη θερμοκρασία σε υψηλή, και βράζουμε μέχρι να μειωθεί ο όγκος του στο μισό για 2 έως 3 λεπτά.
- Προσθέτουμε το ζωμό και το θυμάρι και βράζουμε μέχρι να μειωθεί σε λίγο πάνω από 1 φλιτζάνι, 15 έως 20 λεπτά.
- Πετάμε τα κλωνάρια του θυμαριού.
- Ανακατεύουμε την κρέμα και τα πιπέρια και χαμηλώνουμε τη θερμοκρασία για να σιγοβράσουν.
- Βράζουμε, ανακατεύοντας περιστασιακά, μέχρι η σάλτσα να μειωθεί σε 2 φλιτζάνια, περίπου 20 λεπτά.
- Βγάζουμε από τη φωτιά και ρίχνουμε τη γραβιέρα, τη μουστάρδα, το χυμό λεμονιού και τη γουόστερ σος.
- Όταν το τυρί λειώσει, ελέγχουμε και εάν είναι απαραίτητο ρίχνουμε λίγο αλάτι, πιπέρι, ή χυμό λεμονιού.
- Με το ραβδομπλέντερ λιώστε ότι έχει απομείνει από το κρεμμύδι και το θυμάρι.
- Λίγο πριν γίνει η σάλτσα αλατοπιπερώστε τα φιλέτα και ψήστε τα είτε στη φωτιά ή στο γκριλ.
- Αφήστε τα 3 λεπτά να ξεκουραστούν και σερβίρετέ τα με τη σάλτσα στο πλάι.
