A bit about Worcestershire Sauce...
In the mid-1800s, British nobleman Sir Marcus Sandys returned to his native England from service in India as governor of the province of Bengal. A noted epicure, Sandys had acquired a recipe for a tangy sauce, a secret blend of spices and seasonings which was doused liberally on many India-n dishes.
From his estate in Worcester, England, Sandys commissioned two chemists, John Lea and William Perrins, to prepare bottles of the sauce for private use in his household and as gifts for friends. Its popularity prompted Lea and Perrins, with Sandys's permission, to manufacture it under the name "Worcester Sauce." It debuted in American, though, as "Worcestershire Sauce," shire being the British equivalent to county, and Worcestershire being the county seat of Worcester. Americans took readily to the condiment, if not to the pronunciation of its' name.
If you're curious about the ingredients, Lea & Perrins says they are juicier red onions from the Finger Lakes, spicier cloves from Zanzibar, sweeter tamarinds from the West Indies, snappier garlic from Venice, bitier chile peppers from Mombasa, Livelier anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea, choicer eschalots from Holland.
