A friend and I were talking this week when he asked me “When you first told me (over a year ago) that you were starting a site dedicated to celebrating all things HP Sauce I thought ‘How much could one possibly say about a bottle of sauce??’. Now here we are, well over a year later and you’re still finding finding things to write about!”. Indeed there remains plenty to write about, and if nothing else, it proves there’s plenty of room for niche content like this online. Those of you who have taken time to write me are a testament to that fact!

Recently someone wrote me to advocate a cause which is on the minds of many people connected with the closure of the HP Sauce factory in Birmingham, UK. These folk, as many Brits generally, are feeling betrayed after loosing yet another British institution to a foreign company. This person, once a proud HP Sauce user is now strongly advocating the move to Branston’s brown sauce as an alternative to HP. Branston, he argues is a ‘Made in Britain’ sauce which should be supported in place of HP Sauce on behalf of British workers. He also calls for the removal of the Houses of Parliament logo on the HP Sauce label and has gone to some lengths to promote Branston, stating “I have taken bottles of the Branston sauce ketchup and brown overseas to leave on hotel breakfast bars with a message for more info contact… and I have had 3 responses”.

Is there room for an alternative brown sauce? Should I expand the scope of the site to serve multiple varieties of brown sauce? Do you have your own alternative to HP Sauce which you would like to advocate? If so, please write me and share your views. I do very much appreciate your feedback.

Christmas 1920

Last year I came across a real find on ebay - a small book from the 1920’s called “Nursery Rhymes with a Dash of Sauce“. The booklet contains 12 classic Nursery Rhymes, each slightly modified to include H.P. Sauce. When I first received the booklet, I was a bit dismayed at its condition and I set about digitally restoring it as best I could. It took quite an effort, but the results were well worth it. You can view the booklet in its entirety here.

At the time, I had learned that there were in fact two styles of these H.P. Sauce booklets and I immediately sought after the second of the two booklets. Unfortunately, it remained elusive and after some time looking, I gave up on trying to find a copy. It was to my surprise then when I found copy on ebay last month and I was fortunate enough to win the auction without breaking the bank.

The booklet arrived a couple of days ago and upon opening the package it was apparent that I was in for another long restoration session. Both booklets are well over 80 years old and are very well used and in the case of the most recent booklet, it is also unfortunately somewhat water damaged. It does include however an inscription in the inside cover (see picture, right) to Birdham C. E. School, Christmas 1920, Kathleen Slaughter. It would be interesting to know more about this school and of Kathleen Slaughter!

I find these booklets fascinating and it speaks of an era not many of us are likely to know much about. I’ll do my best in the coming weeks to restore this booklet in the same manner as the first. These booklets appear to be somewhat rare and are worth preserving.

Site News

I have had to close down the comments in the gallery due to a sudden increase in spam recently. Hopefully this is a brief and temporary setback, however I expect that I’ll most likely need to upgrade the gallery software to improve comment integrity. Sorry.

As one might expect on a brown sauce site, I do generally try to keep on topic - however there are times like today when I simply need a venue for a brain dump. Fear not, there is a HP Sauce mention in this post, but its significance is to say the least, somewhat down played. What follows instead of my regular HP Sauce centric postings is a dream I had this morning between the hours of 5:37 AM (when I awoke to snowplows banging away on my street) and 6:55 AM when I awoke suddenly to the realization that I was late for work. I was so groggy from my dream I literally had a hard time stepping out of it - nearly falling down the stairs as I went to shower!

Groggy thoughts

It began in a large courtyard situated in a large European city on a bright summers day. The courtyard was situated high up on a hill with narrow winding streets below, filled with traffic. There were people all around me, all busily readying the courtyard for some sort of elaborate family reunion. I looked around but didn’t recognize any family members, but I got the distinct impression that these were pretentious people and eager to show off their wealth and status to all invited. My task was to prepare food for the event by cooking up several dishes at the open summer kitchen in the corner of the courtyard. I gathered my ingredients (including HP Sauce!) together and started to cook. As I cooked I observed people coming and going in the courtyard, many sipping cocktails and gossipping amongst each other. When the food I had prepared was ready, I was told that not enough guests had arrived yet. I had been too hasty! Pfth! All that work for nothing, and I was out of ingredients as well! Suddenly, I was riding on a bicycle, peddling through the streets and alleys of this unnamed European city looking for a farmers market where I could buy more ingredients. I soon got terribly lost and very frustrated. Not only could I not find the market, but I was exhausted from peddling up and down the hills. To make matters worse, a man - also on a bicycle, kept whizzing by me, easily weaving in and out of traffic as though it were some sort of game he was playing with me. I was in a right huff by this point.

Suddenly, I’m back at my food station in the courtyard with fresh ingredients all around me. “How did I get back here? If the ingredients were here all along, then why send me out for more??” I thought. I looked around. It was apparent that more guests had arrived and I was sure that the time had come to cook the food that I had been tasked with preparing. I immediately started to cook the same dishes as I had earlier but this time keeping an eye out so as my efforts would not again go wasted. When I finished, I informed a family member whom I still didn’t recognize that the meal was ready to be served. This person abruptly snubbed me and walked away to chat with someone far more important than I. “So” I thought. “I had missed my chance and they were no longer interested in what I had prepared. Ungrateful so & so’s!”. I suddenly thought to look look behind me and sure enough, the man who so gracefully navigated the streets below on his bicycle was now sitting there amongst a group of people with an arrogant grin on his face. “Anyone for more naan bread!?!” he asked as his friends eagerly took fresh bread out of a wicker basket he held out in front of him. “PFTH!” I’d had enough of this and I threw down my pinny in disgust.

If it wasn’t already obvious that I didn’t fit in with this crowd before, it certainly was now! I took a moment to collect myself and decided to meander about the courtyard and make another attempt at fitting in. I then saw some relatives of mine that I finally did recognize sitting at a table under a shady tree. These were cousins of mine who I knew, but who very rarely spent any time with. I sat down next to them and observed as they entertained the hosts’ 3 year old daughter. What a bright and cheery little girl she was! Only 3 years old and reading fluently and filling my cousins’ heads with all sorts of knowledgeable advice which was well beyond her years. “Naturally” I thought. “She’s the daughter of the snobs running the party isn’t she?”. I listened in to their conversation but after sitting there for a half hour or so,I decided that again that I’d had enough. No one there really noticed me anyway, so I made my excuses and left.

Fred Elliot
Image from www.itv.com

I took a last look at all the people mulling about the courtyard and wondered to myself why I was involved at all with this group of people? I found the stone path which lead down to the street below and came to a small landing half way down where I paused to look out at the street below. Suddenly I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I spun around only to see Fred Elliot of Coronation Street standing there in front of me! He had a huge, jolly grin on his face as his character so often does. “Ahh. There ye are! You know, I’ve been looking all over for you!” he said in his booming voice “All over!” Although I was puzzled to see a friendly Coronation Street character now standing in front of me with a silly grin on his face, I couldn’t help but wonder WHY? I tried to get out a “hello” but before I could say anything he continued “Where have you been anyroad? I’ve been worried sick! I say worried sick!” his face suddenly looking concerned. Again, I tried to explain but once again he cut me off as he leaned in as if to tell me something important. “Now. I want you to come oe’r t’ mine laters. I want to tell you and our Ashley summat.” he whispers in my ear. He then winks and gives me a knowing smile as he steps back. I had but a split second to ponder what it was he wanted to tell me when I suddenly woke up to the horrible realization that I was late for work. *confused look*

This dream was both quite frustrating and quite a lot of fun. Who was it that was hosting the party? What was up with the bicycle/naan bread guy? Did he have it in for me? Who was I supposed to be? Was I myself? Who was I to Fred Elliot? Did he see me as Ashley’s wife Claire? Why else would he refer to him as “our Ashley” to me? Regardless of what it all means, I absolutely love dreams like this, so vivid and so real. If you’ve taken the time to read through all of this, thank you for indulging me. Back to regular postings next week!

Question: When is a door, not a door?
Answer: When it’s ajar!

This riddle, as it’s known to me, comes from an episode of the famous “Are You Being Served?” Britcom series called “Memories Are Made of This”. In this episode, Mr Walpole of sports is temporarily reassigned to the ladies and gentleman’s department where he demonstrates to Captain Peacock how to swing a golf club. Naturally, it isn’t long before Mrs. Slocombe - head of the ladies department succumbs to a blow to the head by wayward golf ball and spends the remainder of the episode behaving like a little girl. At the end of the episode, she not only regains her senses but leaves Grace Brothers for the day in a brand new fur coat.

Recently, it feels as though I must have been struck by a very similar golf ball, for it suddenly appears that I’ve finally woken up at the end of the episode wondering just what had happened. (I wonder, is there a fur coat in it for someone at the end of this episode as well??) So what prompted this sudden wake up call? It was a simple, straight forward email from a site visitor.

Noor wrote to ask:

I would like to ask about the recipe for brown sauce. Does it actually have any kind of alcohol in it? Is spirit vinegar named so because its done in the same way as spirits are or is it because its a vinegar made from spirits?

Good question!

According to www.vinegarbook.co.uk, Spirit vinegar does indeed contain some alcohol and is in fact the strongest of the vinegars. Interesting. I didn’t know that. But then again, I haven’t seen Spirit vinegar on any ingredient labels in some time either. Hang on a minute!!

In a hurried frenzy (which is unusual for me!), I dashed to the pantry and took out a new bottle of HP Sauce and read the ingredients.

Water, Vinegar, Dates, Glucose-Fructose, Black Strap Molasses, Tomato Paste, Modified Cornstarch, Salt, Orange Juice Concentrate, Onion, Spices, Tamarind Extract, Apple Juice Concentrate, Garlic, Chili Peppers, Mustard Flour

Well there’s certainly no Spirit vinegar listed is there? Why then would Noor ask about Spirit vinegar if there’s none to be found on the label? Unless……

I hurry over to my HP Sauce stash which contains several unopened HP Sauce bottles from abroad and pick a large format glass bottle of HP original from the UK. I quickly pour over its ingredients.

Malt Vinegar (from barley), Tomatoes, Molasses, Spirit Vinegar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dates, Sugar, Salt, Modified Maize Starch, Rye Flour, Tamarind Extract, Spices, Onion Extract

I’m in shock!

I digest this revelation for a bit and wonder. “How long has the Canadian and British varieties differed from each other? Had this always been the case?”. This is when the effects of getting smacked on the forehead with Mr Walpole’s golf ball start to wear off and I make my way back to my stash of HP Sauce bottles. I dig around a bit and find a local bottle that a co-worker had liberated from his in-laws pantry some time ago. This is a Canadian bottle which I would guess dates from the late 80’s to mid 90’s. The ingredients on it are:

Malt Vinegar, Water, Dates, Glucose-Fructose, Refiner’s Molasses, Tomato Paste, Salt, Tamarinds, Onions, Modified Corn Starch, Garlic and Spices

It too is different, from both other versions, and to my amazement it doesn’t end there either.

I quickly send off an email to a friend in Australia and ask (politely) for a list of ingredients on a local bottle of ol’ HP Sauce.

Brown Vinegar (contains Wheat, Barley), Tomatoes, Molasses, Sugar, Dates, White Vinegar, Salt, Modified Starch (1422), Rye Flour, Tamarind Extract, Spices, Onion Extract

The Australian version, while very similar to the UK variety is none the less different with Spirit Vinegar being the most notable missing ingredient.

Where to start piecing this puzzle together? First, let’s address the absence of Spirit Vinegar in the Canadian and Australian sauces. I can only speculate, but I would guess that somewhere along the line, legislation was passed which prohibited alcohol from being sold in food items like sauces. Canada is very particular about this type of legislation and unlike the U.S, alcohol can only be purchased in Canada from government run outlets (some wine shops excepted). Now that we know Spirit vinegar contains some alcohol, this theory makes some sense, at least on the surface. I can only presume Australia is similar in this regard.

What of the differences in the two Canadian versions of the same original HP Sauce with the older version Canadian version is most similar to the Australian variety? If we inspect the label further, another distinction becomes apparent. The older Canadian bottle states:

Made and Distributed by: E.D. Smith & Sons, Limited, Winona, Ontario, Canada, L8E 5S3, Under Authority of HP Foods Limited, Market Harborough, England.

The new bottle on the other hand lists the following:

Prepared By Lea & Perrins Inc., Fair Lawn, NJ 07410 USA, 1-888-698-2853. Imported by E.D. Smith & Sons, Limited, Winona, Ontario, Canada, LBE 5S3, Under Authority Of: HP Foods Limited, Tower Road, Aston Cross, Birmingham, England

For comparison, the Australian bottle states:

Manufactured by McCormick Foods Australia Pty Ltd, 8 Wharf Rd West Ryde NSW 2114

It’s clear now that E.D. Smith & Sons is no longer manufacturing HP Sauce for the Canadian market, but rather importing it under the Lea & Perrins name. The sauce itself is now being made in New Jersey, U.S.A!! E.D. Smith & Sons must have lost the rights to manufacture the Sauce when either Heinz or Danone acquired HP Foods. Is the newest Canadian version of the HP Sauce recipe an attempt to tweak the taste to match the original more closely? Perhaps. I’ll have to crack open one of my UK bottles to do a direct taste test in order to compare the two. I’ll save that test for a future posting.

It is very interesting to finally witness what has been happening to our favourite sauces without our knowing - or mine in any case. Now where’s that fur coat then?