A-1 Steak Sauce

Henderson William Brand had a tough audience. As chef to England’s King George IV in 1824, Brand was constantly striving to please the royal palate with new concoctions, and one day served the King a new sauce he had developed for use on steak. The King was so pleased with Brand’s invention that he bestowed the accolade “A-1,” meaning ‘the very best,” on the sauce. When Brand left the King’s service a few years later, he took both the recipe for the sauce and the King’s name for it with him and began to market the sauce and other recipes as Brand & Co.

Unfortunately, Brand proved a better cook than a businessman, and Brand & Co. went bankrupt, leaving Brand no recourse but to sell the business to his friend W.H. Withall. In 1862, Withall entered the sauce in the International Exposition in London, where it again earned the rating of “A-1.”

Within a few years Withall had sold Brand & Co. to another company, precipitating an eight-year legal battle with a very annoyed Brand, but by the late 1800s the dust had settled and A-1 Steak Sauce was on its way to becoming the most popular meat sauce in both Britain and North America. Now owned by Intercorp Excelle Inc., A-1 is touted as being excellent on fish, poultry and vegetables as well as steak, but the recipe remains a closely-guarded secret (although the company will admit to the “core ingredients” of both the Original and Zesty A-1 varieties as being malt vinegar, dates, mango chutney, apples and orange marmalade).

February 28, 2008 | Filed Under Food and Drink 

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