Brown sauce is a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...

commonly served with food in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, normally dark brown in colour. The taste is either tart or sweet with a peppery taste similar to that of Worcestershire sauce. Brown sauce is typically eaten with meals such as full breakfasts,

bacon sandwich A bacon sandwich (also known in parts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand as a bacon butty, bacon bap or bacon sarnie, and in parts of Ireland as a rasher sandwich) is a sandwich of cooked bacon between bread that is optionally spread with bu ...

es and

chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

. A combination of

malt vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

(or water) and brown sauce known simply as sauce or chippy sauce is popular on fish and chips in Edinburgh, Scotland.

History

The first brown sauce was

HP Sauce HP Sauce is a British brown sauce, the main ingredients of which are tomatoes and tamarind extract. It was named after London's Houses of Parliament. After making its first appearance on British dinner tables in the late 19th century, HP Sauce ...

, invented in the United Kingdom by Frederick Gibson Garten in the 1890s in Nottinghamshire. An alternative claim states that an earlier brown sauce was created in Leicestershire by David Hoe in the 1850s, who sold his recipe to Garten. Another sauce, Yorkshire Relish, is of a similar style to brown sauce and originated in

Leeds, England Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1837, and is relatively unknown in the UK today. A recipe for " sauce for steaks" composed of ale, wine,

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among other ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

and butter appeared in an 1843 cookbook published in London entitled ''English Cookery''.

Common brands

A.1. Sauce A.1. Sauce (formerly A.1. Steak Sauce and sometimes stylized as A1 Sauce in certain markets) is a brand of brown sauce produced by Brand & co, a subsidiary of Premier Foods in the United Kingdom (as "Brand's A.1. Sauce") and in North America by ...

Daddies Daddies is a brand of ketchup and brown sauce in the United Kingdom. History The brown sauce product, known as "Daddies Sauce", was launched in 1904, and the ketchup was launched in 1930. The brand is owned by the H. J. Heinz Company; it was bou ...

In the United Kingdom

HP Sauce is the earliest brown sauce, and is the most popular brown sauce in the United Kingdom, accounting for around 75% of sales.

OK Sauce OK Sauce is a brand of brown sauce manufactured in the United Kingdom, first by George Mason & Company and later by Colmans. Early history OK Sauce was first made in a factory called the Chelsea Works (formerly a swimming pool) in London. In 19 ...

and

Wilkin & Sons Wilkin & Sons Limited is a manufacturer of preserves, marmalades and associated products established in Tiptree, Essex, England in 1885, and known for its "Tiptree" brand of fruit preserves. History The Wilkin family came to Tiptree, Essex and s ...

are other popular brands. Another is Hammonds of Yorkshire, popular in Northern England.

In Ireland

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and HP Sauce are popular brown sauce brands in Ireland. Another sauce, Yorkshire Relish, is a similar style of sauce that originated in

in 1837, and is now produced in Ireland and is currently manufactured in

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

under the YR Sauce brand.

Generic brands

Most

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chains in the UK and Ireland also stock their own brand of brown sauce. As with other condiments like ketchup,

mayonnaise Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...

, and

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

, brown sauce is widely available in catering sachets and dispenser bottles in restaurants.

Similar products

Many countries have their own sauces which are similar to brown sauce, often containing comparable flavour profiles, ingredients, and uses. Examples include Japan's

tonkatsu sauce Tonkatsu sauce is a thick sauce served with tonkatsu (Japanese pork cutlet). It is a thick (viscosity over 2.0 pascal-second, per JAS Standard) Japanese Worcestershire-type sauce. It is similar to a brown sauce, and can include a fish sauce, ...

and Jamaica's Pickapeppa sauce. In China, a similar soy-based sauce thickened with potato or corn starch is also known as "brown sauce" (棕色酱 or "Zōngsè jiàng"). "

Steak sauce Steak sauce is a tangy sauce commonly served as a condiment for beef in the United States. Two of its major producers are British companies, and the sauce is similar to the "brown sauce" of British cuisine. Overview Steak sauce is normally br ...

" is a similar product in the United States.

Popularity

Between 2013 and 2014 the sales of brown sauces in the UK decreased by approximately 19%, according to market research company

Mintel Mintel Group Ltd is a global, privately owned market research firm based in London. The corporation also maintains offices in Chicago, Mumbai, Belfast, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dusseldorf, Bangkok, and Seoul. ...

, but more than is still consumed each year. Brown sauce is considered a more refined sauce in the UK over other sauces such as tomato ketchup.

References

{{portal bar, Food British condiments Irish cuisine Umami enhancers pl:Brown sauce