As you enter Worcester City in England, by train, there is a factory sign that peers from the medley of buildings with the title ‘Lea & Perrins’. Just like many signs on factories it highlights the business’s name. Some will instantly recognize the name, for many more it is just another name that sits on top of the industrial architecture that has been built in seemingly random fashion over a century or more.
So what is in this name? Worcestershire Sauce is made here. It is a spicy brown liquid that is often seen in bars, kitchens and dinning rooms the world over. I remember many years ago seeing a bottle of this sauce in a bar in a remote part of India. I have also seen it in many more places the around the world – some ‘up market’ some more day to day. It is frequently referred to as Worcester Sauce rather than by its’ full name county name. I just love it in an iced tomato juice – I am also in very good company with many people in all parts of the globe. It is also very warming splashed into soups, and certainly perks up a fried breakfast!
The one thing I always think of when I see a bottle, is home – it is the sauce of the county where I have lived for many years, it is also so very ‘English’.
Sadly, quiet recently a gentleman who held the family title, Lord Sandys, died. I met him on many occasions as we went to the same church and a delightful gentleman he was too. One would call him quintessentially English, in a fine tweed suit and a crisp clear voice I so often heard when taking the reading on a Sunday morning. It was one of his forefathers that brought the recipe back from his time in India and he asked a local firm, Lea & Perrins to make up the brew. Sadly, it did not taste anything like what he had hoped and the barrel was left in the factory store and forgotten. A year or two later it was noticed and re-tasted and this time the flavours had blended and the sauce we know today was brought to life and into production.
It may not be an expensive memento of one’s family’s history but one thing for certain, it is something that has spanned the world.
This left me valuing those little ‘touch points’ from our own history. What touch points do you cherish that come from your own hometown? That put a smile on your face when spotted when away from home, or even tug on a heartstring?
Perhaps drop me an email and if I receive a few other comments I will bring these back to another blog.
My best wishes,
Peter
