Steak sauce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007) |
In the United States, steak sauce is a generic term used for various premade sauces for serving with meat. Most commonly, it refers to sauces served with beef and of western origin. The term "steak sauce" is derived from these sauces often being served with steak in restaurants. A1 Steak Sauce is the most prominent brand sold in the U.S.
In the United Kingdom, similar condiments are known generically as brown sauce, with HP Sauce being one of the best-known brands. There, brown sauce is frequently served with a wide range of foods including bacon sandwiches and pie and mash.
Contents |
[edit] United States
These sauces are normally brown or orange in color and often made from tomatoes, spices, vinegar, and raisins. Some contain anchovies. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to Worcestershire sauce, made by Lea & Perrins. A1 is a tart variant, while some other brands, like the regionally notable Cackalacky Classic Condiment Company's Spice Sauce, offer a sweeter and spicier flavor. Along with A1 and Lea & Perrins, several smaller companies and specialty producers manufacture steak sauce. Most major grocery store chains also offer a private label brand of this type of sauce as "steak sauce". These private label sauces typically mimic A-1 or Lea & Perrins steak sauce, which is slightly sweeter.
Often, Worcestershire sauce is referred to as a steak sauce, but it is not thick like other varieties.
Heinz 57 is a steak sauce produced by Heinz. Unlike other steak sauces, it has a distinctive dark orange-yellow color and tastes more like ketchup spiced with mustard seed (Heinz advertises the product as "ketchup with a kick", although it had a harsher, some say more robust taste, before the flavor changed in 1985[citation needed]). A few grocery store chains offer this type of sauce as a private label item under similar names such as "7 sauce" or "59 sauce".
[edit] United Kingdom and Ireland
Brown sauce is a condiment popular in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. There exist a number of different brands and generic versions, of which HP Sauce is the most popular - sales of HP Brown Sauce and HP Fruity Sauce account for around 75% of value sales in the UK (source IRI, June 2006). In some regions of the UK, the Daddies Favourite brand is also popular, in particular in the Midlands and West Country (source, IRI, Mar 07). HP Sauce was launched in 1903, and Daddies Sauce (also known as Daddies Favourite) was launched in 1904. Both brands have existed since the start of the twentieth century. Chef Brown Sauce is the most popular version produced in Ireland.
A relatively recent addition to the UK brown sauce market is Branston Brown Sauce. Following controversial plans to move production of Heinz's HP Sauce to Holland in 2006, many patriotic sauce aficionados, including UK Member of Parliament David Ruffley, moved allegiance from HP to Branston, which is produced in Bury St. Edmunds, UK. [1]. To date, Branston brown sauce has struggled to gain popularity amongst consumers, accounting for less than 3% of market sales (source, IRI, Feb 2007). In January 2007, Asda stopped stocking the product due to poor sales.[citation needed]
The recipe for HP Sauce includes a combination of malt vinegar, tomatoes, molasses, dates, tamarind and spices. Other brown sauce brands available in the UK use similar recipes.
Brown sauce is traditionally eaten with meals and dishes such as full breakfasts, bacon sandwiches, chips and baked beans. Around Edinburgh a combination of spirit vinegar and brown sauce, known simply as "sauce" or "chippie sauce", is popular on fish and chips.
In March 2008, HP announced the launch of HP Steak Sauce. This product featured a different recipe to the Original Brown Sauce, using a mix of spirit vinegar, tomatoes, black pepper, onion and cayenne pepper. The product includes serving suggestions including home-cooked steaks, home made burgers and premium sausages.
[edit] In popular culture
- Chef Brown Sauce features prominently in the 2003 Irish film Intermission starring Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell. They are seen pouring some over hot tea.
- Noel Edmonds, Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin called themselves Brown Sauce when they played together as a band on Swapshop.
[edit] Brands of brown sauce
Most UK supermarkets also sell generic own-label brown sauces.
[edit] External links
- brownsauce.org - Website focused on HP brown sauce
