Topic: Worcester Sauce

[Cory Ander]

and add a splash of Worcester sauce toward the end of cooking. both work very well for my madras taste buds.

Seen this mentioned a few times before, where did you get the idea from Jerry?

Worcester Sauce is apparently used in "traditional" Parsi cooking. 

In the 19th century, or so the story goes, Lee & Perrins (of the English "Worcester Sauce" fame) were asked to reproduce a "liquid chutney" recipe brought back from Bengal.  The recipe contained tamarind, molasses, soy sauce, anchovies, vinegar, chillies, cloves and cinnamon.  Worcester Sauce has apparently been used in "traditional" Parsi cooking ever since and no Parsi pantry would be without it.

On Jerry's suggestion, I tried the smallest of splashes in my madras the other day.  I was pleasantly surprised with the result.  It did indeed enhance the flavour (as you might expect by adding a seasoning) and also added a little depth and savouriness. 

I'm not convinced that British Indian Restaurants (BIRs) use it though?  Has anyone ever seen it in their kitchens?

Still Worth trying, nevertheless.

[JerryM]

it's good to see u posting when u can. the site just doesn?t seem the same when your not there.

i too don't believe the BIRs use worcester sauce - it's hopefully a stop gap for me.

i have already reached my aim of producing a decent curry to eat midweek whilst retaining my craving for the real BIR/TA experience.

in a side by side comparison i'm still short - on sweetness and smokey flavour.

domi has helped enormously in opening my eyes to smoked paprika - La Chinata at Sainsbury (which is now in general cooking use typ paella) - this puts a sticking plaster over the smokey flavour. i've put sugar into my spice mix which is helping on the "caramelised" sweetness front. just adding sugar does not work.

i'm currently looking into new pan (black iron), reclaimed oil, and wok burner.

until then the worcester sauce remains a real lifeline - somehow pulling the sweetness and smokey flavour together.

pls CA not familiar with Parsi - could u outline a bit.

[Cory Ander]

Parsis (Parsees) fled Persia, in the 11th century (religious persecution, apparently), and finally settled in the Bombay region of India.  Dhansak and Patia are typical Parsi (Parsee) dishes. 

Lee & Perrins made their Worcester sauce, for the Governor of Bengal at the time, around 1835.

It's quite easy to see why the sauce might be used in a dhansak, given it's ingredients (sweet and sour)

[Chris303]

its main ingredient is anchovies though.... this is not vegetarian and I dont know any places I have been that are not veggie concious.

[JerryM]

Chris,

i'm amazed the anchovies are in there - i don't care for them one bit and thankfully can't taste them in it one bit.

now u've got me looking at the label - i've noticed on the latest bottles an awareness campaign of slogans on what to use it for and would u believe, "chicken - whack a galoon in the curry and the curry goes down a storm".

[Tamala]

its main ingredient is anchovies though.... this is not vegetarian and I dont know any places I have been that are not veggie concious.

Anchovies are AN ingredient, but I dont think they are the MAIN ingredient chris?

Veggies conscious or not, do birs use it selectively for non-vegetarian dishes though?

[adriandavidb]

I have seen Worchester sauce used in a BIR, at the Gatwick Tandorri take away about 15 years ago, it's now called the Zari, in Ifield, Crawley, West Sussex.

See my other posts.  Basicaly during a demo the Chef gave me of how he cooked the Madras curry I liked so much from that Curry House!