Henderson's Relish is a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

sauce produced in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. It is similar in appearance and flavour to Worcestershire sauce, but unlike many Worcestershire sauces contains no anchovies. It is made of water, sugar and spirit vinegar with a selection of spices and colouring.

History

Henry Henderson, who had trained as a miller and then as a druggist, began manufacturing sauce in 1885. Originally manufactured at 35 Broad Lane in Sheffield, Henderson's Relish is still being made and was in uninterrupted production within half a mile of the site from which the first bottle was filled, until the move to a new factory in 2013. In 1910, the company was bought by Shaws of Huddersfield, who still supply Hendersons with vinegar. In 1940, general manager Charles Hinksman purchased the company from Shaws and formed Hendersons (Sheffield) Ltd., the control of which remained with his family, as of 2016 the Freemans.

Description and ingredients

Henderson's has a base of spirit vinegar and acetic acid, coloured with caramel and sweetened with sugar and saccharin. Its flavour is derived from garlic,

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

, and cayenne pepper. Ava Szajna-Hopgood, writing for ''Vice'', described the sauce as a "murky brown" with a flavour that's "hard...to pinpoint" but "kind of just makes you want to eat more".

Popularity

The sauce is often compared to the more well-known Worcestershire sauce, but local fans have long argued Henderson's Relish is dissimilar to Worcestershire sauce. Henderson's has historically not been well-known outside Yorkshire; in February 2014,

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

MP Jim Dowd, after having been served it in the Hare and Billet in Blackheath, assumed it a knockoff of the anchovy-based Lea and Perrins and described its packaging as a "parasitic" attempt to pass off one sauce as another during a parliamentary debate on the Intellectual Property Bill. He was corrected by comments from Sheffield MPs Paul Blomfield and

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

. Dowd later toured the Henderson's factory. In 2024 Henderson's removed the tag line "Strong and Northern" from packaging intended for export, replacing it with "Worcestershire", which '' Somerset Live'' called "a contentious label" that was shocking to local fans of the sauce, who had long argued Henderson's was a completely different condiment. Henderson's explained the label was to make the product less confusing to overseas customers unfamiliar with it. It is widely known in Sheffield as "Hendo's".

Tom Wrigglesworth Thomas James Wrigglesworth is an English comedian. He was born and raised in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. In 2009 he was nominated for the main Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly the Perrier awards) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Early life W ...

joked that while those more familiar with Worcestershire sauce assume Henderson's is Sheffield's answer to Worcestershire sauce, its fans consider it "the answer to everything". According to ''Atlas Obscura'', the sauce has a cult following.

Factory

After starting in Sheffield over one hundred years ago, until 2013 the relish was in uninterrupted production within half a mile of the original site on Broad Lane from which the first bottle was filled. The Henderson's factory was located opposite what was once the Jessop Hospital for Women, now the Music Department of the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. The building is adjacent to the University of

Sheffield Supertram The South Yorkshire Supertram, sometimes referred to as the Sheffield Supertram, is a tram and tram-train network covering Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. The network is owned and operated by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Co ...

stop, on Leavygreave Road. In September 2008, the sign that had adorned the side of the historic Henderson's Relish building was stolen, and shortly afterwards was placed for sale on a local Sheffield blog. In 2013, the manufacturer moved to

Sheffield Parkway Business Park Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its souther ...

. The University of Sheffield spent £1.8 million to restore the building for use as a public space. In 2024, the University began to sell the original

roof tiles Roof tiles are overlapping tiles designed mainly to keep out precipitation such as rain or snow, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay or slate. Later tiles have been made from materials such as concrete, glass ...

from the building to raise money to support students seeking

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

in Sheffield, including those displaced by the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Sheffield companies British condiments Brand name condiments Economy of Sheffield Yorkshire cuisine Vegan cuisine