Narrator: ITS NAME CAN BE A BIT
OF A TONGUE-TWISTER --
"WUSS-TE-SHIRE" SAUCE,
"WOOS-TER-SHEER" SAUCE,
"WUSS-TE-SURE" SAUCE.
ALL THOSE PRONUNCIATIONS
ARE ACCEPTABLE,
AS ARE THE ENDLESS WAYS
TO USE THIS CONDIMENT,
FROM FLAVORING BEEF RECIPES
AND SALAD DRESSINGS
TO JOINING TOMATO JUICE
AND VODKA IN A BLOODY MARY.
IN THE EARLY 1800s,
AN ENGLISH NOBLEMAN
IN THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER
HIRED TWO LOCAL CHEMISTS,
JOHN LEA AND WILLIAM PERRINS,
TO DUPLICATE A SAUCE HE HAD
TASTED WHILE TRAVELING IN INDIA.
THE RESULTING CONCOCTION
WAS UNPALATABLE,
SO THEY RELEGATED IT
TO THE CELLAR.
YEARS LATER, THEY CAME ACROSS IT
DURING A CELLAR CLEANUP
AND GAVE IT ANOTHER TASTE.
LO AND BEHOLD, THE SAUCE HAD
MATURED AND WAS NOW DELICIOUS.
THEY CHRISTENED THEIR CREATION
"WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE"
AND WENT INTO BUSINESS.
TODAY,
MORE THAN 170 YEARS LATER,
THAT SAME COMPANY
PRODUCES THAT VERY RECIPE,
THE SPECIFICS OF WHICH REMAIN
A CLOSELY-GUARDED SECRET.
THE PROCESS BEGINS
WITH ONIONS AND GARLIC
PICKLED IN MALT VINEGAR
FOR ONE TO TWO YEARS.
INSIDE THE PICKLING BARRELS,
THE BULBS SLOWLY LIQUEFY,
THEIR FLAVOR
INFUSING THE LIQUID.
OTHER BARRELS CONTAIN ANCHOVIES
CURED IN SALT
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS INCLUDE
SALT, SUGAR, WHITE VINEGAR...
MALT VINEGAR...
TAMARIND CONCENTRATE...
MOLASSES...
AND A TOP-SECRET BLEND
OF FLAVORINGS AND SPICES.
STARTING WITH THE TWO VINEGARS,
WORKERS POUR THE INGREDIENTS
ONE AT A TIME
INTO GIGANTIC BLENDING TANKS.
THERE GOES
THE TAMARIND CONCENTRATE.
NOW THE ANCHOVIES.
THE INGREDIENT PROPORTIONS
ARE TOP SECRET,
AS IS THE PRESCRIBED MIXING TIME
BETWEEN INGREDIENTS.
NOW THE PICKLED ONIONS
AND GARLIC...
...SUGAR AND SALT...
AND THAT SECRET BLEND
OF FLAVORINGS AND SPICES.
NEXT, THEY PUMP THE MIXTURE
INTO MATURATION TANKS.
THERE, OVER THE COURSE
OF SEVERAL MONTHS,
THE INGREDIENTS AGE
AND INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER,
UNDERGOING COMPLEX CHANGES
IN THEIR NATURAL CHEMISTRY
WHICH PRODUCE THE SAUCE'S
DISTINCTIVE FLAVOR.
AGITATORS ROTATE INTERMITTENTLY
TO KEEP THE INGREDIENTS
WELL-BLENDED.
THE SAUCE
THEN GOES THROUGH A SIEVE,
THEN THROUGH A PRESS,
FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER CYCLE
OF BLENDING AND STRAINING.
THE SAUCE IS A SMOOTH LIQUID
BY THE TIME IT PROGRESSES
TO THE NEXT PHASE --
PASTEURIZATION.
THIS PROCESS HEATS THE SAUCE
TO KILL OFF ORGANISMS,
ENSURING OPTIMAL FLAVOR
FOR AT LEAST 18 MONTHS.
THE SAUCE NEEDS NO ARTIFICIAL
PRESERVATIVES WHATSOEVER
BECAUSE THE VINEGARS IT CONTAINS
ARE NATURAL
ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS.
THE BOTTLING PROCESS
IS ENTIRELY AUTOMATED.
THE FACTORY PRODUCES
DIFFERENT FORMATS.
THIS ONE IS MODELED AFTER THE
ORIGINAL BOTTLE FROM THE 1830s.
THE MACHINERY CLOSES EACH BOTTLE
WITH A ONE-PIECE,
PLASTIC FLIP-TOP CAP.
INSIDE, THERE'S A SMALL HOLE
TO ENSURE THE SAUCE
DISPENSES
AT THE RIGHT FLOW RATE.
THIS PREVENTS ACCIDENTALLY
POURING TOO MUCH SAUCE.
AS EACH BOTTLE
ENTERS THE LABELING MACHINE,
AN ARM DESCENDS ONTO THE CAP.
THE MACHINE APPLIES GLUE
TO A LABEL,
SLAPS IT ON THE BOTTLE,
THEN THE ARM SPINS THE BOTTLE
AGAINST BRUSHES
THAT PUSH THE EDGES
OF THE LABEL FLAT.
THEN, DEPENDING ON THE FORMAT
THEY'RE PACKAGING,
THE EQUIPMENT GROUPS
6 OR 12 BOTTLES TOGETHER
AND, FROM UNDERNEATH,
FOLDS A CARTON AROUND THEM.
THEN IT SHRINK-WRAPS THE CARTON,
WHICH THEN JOINS OTHERS
ON A PALLET.
THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
AND RECIPE
HAVE REMAINED
ESSENTIALLY THE SAME
SINCE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
WAS FIRST BOTTLED IN 1835.
