Worcestershire sauce

Worcestershire sauce is a pungent, savory sauce made from anchovies that have been fermented in vinegar, with the addition of flavorings such as garlic, chili, salt, sugar, and onions. The sauce was invented in Worcester by John Wheeley Lea and William Perrins, two chemists who were once visited by Lord Sandys, Governor of Bengal.

He asked Lea and Perrins to make him a concoction based on a recipe he found in India. The duo made the sauce and didn't like it, so they stored it in their cellar, only to be amazed by the flavor after successive tastings. The exact recipe has never been published and remains a secret up to this day.

The first iteration of the sauce went on sale in 1837, and since then, the sauce has been used in numerous meat and fish dishes, as well as in alcoholic beverages, such as the famous cocktail known as Bloody Mary.