I am looking at my current bottle (and wondering how current it is….) and I have to add to your versions of HP sauce!!

Mine is made in Winona Ontario…under the authority of HP Foods, Birmingham England! The plot thickens! Stranger still, my bottle’s ingredients are different from all the ones you listed:

Malt vinegar, water, dates, glucose-fructose, refiner’s molasses, tomato paste, salt, modified corn starch, onions, tamarinds, garlic and spices.

Very mysterious all these versions….

Rest assured that you are not the only one with a passion for HP Sauce. There may not be as many of us in Canada, but we’re out there (in more ways than one) ;-). I hope you find the site useful.

I’m afraid I’m in the same boat as you are when it comes to acquiring full, original Birmingham HP Sauce bottles. I’m afraid I sacrificed one of my last of such bottles for the taste test.

One could always import it of course, you may want to visit one of the sites listed in the Where to Buy? section.

Hope this helps,
-Brad

I’ll presume that you’re referring to the sentence “Those who participated chose the sauce which best fit their existing descriptions of a BBQ sauce as that is really their only point of reference.”.

You’re quite right, I could have phrased it so: “Those participating may have chosen the sauce which best matched a preconceived notion of what constitutes a “brown sauce”, namely a BBQ sauce, as the term itself is admittedly a British one and not one that is used all that often in a Canadian context”.

If you prefer the natural flavour of steak over one complimented with seasoning or sauce (of any kind), so be it! That’s great! It was never the intention of the test to create converts or change anyone’s preference or behaviour - rather I simply wished to know your preference of the four sauces. Period. End of story.

I use the slang term Brown Sauce within its British context, which is a sauce historically defined as HP Sauce which newer (British) sauces like Branston and others emulate (emulate is perhaps the wrong term, but it will do here). A proper British Brown Sauce has a decidedly unique tangy, malty and vinegary flavour. An American sauce which also happens to be brown(ish) which is used on steak does not fit this admittedly narrow description.

Perhaps someone from Birmingham (the birthplace of Brown Sauce) could comment further.

Sorry to hear that none of the 4 Brown Sauces tested met with your approval. Choosing Branston over HP Sauce was your own preference, and perhaps a good one as well, for it is a fine sauce! Perhaps the only shame is your choice not to lather it on your food.

BTW: Love the site. Care for some pictures for your gallery?

I would love some! I accept all pictures containing one or more of the tested sauces (only), provided they’re suitable for general viewing of course!

Thank you for participating in the test, and for your feedback.

-Brad

1) It was fun.

2) As one of the ‘chosen’ 12 participating, I resent being lumped together as someone who compared the samples to BBQ sauce. Others may have, but I did no such and your comments should not paint such a broad stroke.

3) I actually enjoy the taste of a good steak. I do not find it necessary to bury it’s natural flavours under a sauce.

4) I do not normally use HP sauce because it tastes too bitter and does nothing to enhance my eating experience. Period. End of story.

5) A1 Steak Sauce should have been included in your taste test. And I find your exclusion prejudiced and unusual. Of course A1 brands itself as a ’steak sauce’ because it is targetting the American marketplace and that’s what they expect it to be called. What does “brown sauce” mean to Americans, even us Canadians? Just because the actual letters “b-r-o-w-n s-a-u-c-e” are not on the label, doesn’t preclude it from being such. It is a sauce for meat and therefore more than fits whatever your limited definition of “brown sauce”. It’s time to call a spade a spade. Sheesh.

6) I was one of the uncouth majority who chose Branston’s over your beloved HP sauce. However, I still have no plans to run home and bath everything I eat in it.

BTW: Love the site. Care for some pictures for your gallery?