Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

Last year a friend gave me a bottle of Worcestershire Sauce that she had made. It was one of the best home-made sauces I have eaten. The single bottle we were gifted has lasted the entire year, with a few drizzles left.

This year I decided to give it a try myself. Now is a perfect time to do so with Summer stone fruit in season. It is another item that I can now add to my “Make from Scratch” repertoire, and that pleases me greatly 🙂 The recipe is simple to make, it just takes a little time to simmer.

I sent my friend Mel a message to find out how she makes it. The recipe that she uses is from this book. I did some research on Google and learnt that traditionally Worcestershire Sauce is said to contain tamarind and anchovies, which the recipe Melanie makes does not.

With a crazy, seemingly incompatible, list of ingredients plus a shake up of my pantry to grab what I had available. A friend offered me some apricots from her tree and I grabbed a few ripe plums from the school trees to add to the mix. I set to work without a trip to the grocery store (thus the odd measurements of some of the ingredients – but have no fear, it works!)

This version of the sauce that I have created is much lighter on the cloves and spices than the the one Melanie gave us. I was also not very particular with the straining as I didn’t want to remove all of the lovely ingredients that went into the mix.

The flavor will develop over the coming weeks. It can be left to sit if you wish, or if you are like me and can’t wait to give it a try open small bottle to start with and leave the rest to mature and develop a little further.

Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

3 hours 20 mins

This Worcestershire Sauce is simple to make. It includes a wonderful array of ingredients that provide depth of flavor and a hint of spice. A fridge staple.

Author: Kyrstie Barcak - A Fresh Legacy

Recipe type: Sauce; Condiment

Serves: 1 liter

Ingredients

80 grams Tamarind - chopped roughly and soaked in 200 ml boiling water
Plums - 200 grams - seed removed and chopped
Apricots - 800 grams - seed removed and chopped
1 medium brown onion - chopped
1 and ½ cups of brown sugar
750 ml malt vinegar
250 ml apple cider vinegar
¼ cup honey
2 heaped tablespoons grated fresh ginger
12-14 cloves fresh garlic - chopped roughly
70 grams anchovy fillets - chopped
40 grams tomato paste
½ tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
1 and ½ tablespoons cloves
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground Allspice

Instructions

Soak the Tamarind in the boiling water while gathering all of the other ingredients
Add the ingredients (including the water used to soak the tamarind) into a large pot and stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar
Bring to a medium simmer for 3 hours
Stir occasionally to prevent the fruit from sticking to the bottom of the pan
Strain through a sieve or muslin cloth and bottle into steralised jars.
Once the bottles have cooled enough to handle, add them to a large deep pan filled with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until lids "pop".

Notes

The volume that this recipe makes is an estimate as I gave away a few bottles before I realised that I hadn't measured the quantity.
The volume with differ depending on how fussy you are with your straining.
I strained only the large chunks of fruit out and thus had a reasonably thick sauce.
Store open bottles in the fridge and use within a few months*

Note: Storage time is a conservative estimate. As with all food that is stored for a period of time you should complete a visual, smell and taste test prior to consuming to ensure that it has not spoilt in storage.
As mentioned, the bottle I was gifted from Mel lasted a year in our fridge. Hers contained a much higher percentage of vinegar than used in this recipe.
If you wish to test it out before making a larger batch I suggest that you halve the ingredients and give it a try.

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What is your favorite home made sauce?