Worcestershire Sauce (Victorian — Fermented Anchovy Base — Home Version)

Ingredients

• 150 g salted anchovies, Spanish or Portuguese, salt-cured
• 30 g tamarind paste
• 20 g black treacle
• 15 ml malt vinegar
• 10 ml Worcestershire sauce, commercial, for culture starter
• 5 g sea salt
• 2.5 g Tellicherry black pepper, coarsely ground
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 4 cloves — whole
• 1 blade mace

Method

1. 1
   Rinse anchovies under cold water; pat dry and roughly chop to expose surface area.
2. 2
   Combine anchovies, tamarind paste, treacle, malt vinegar, and commercial Worcestershire sauce in a glass jar; stir thoroughly.
3. 3
   Add salt, pepper, garlic, shallot, cloves, and mace; seal jar and shake vigorously.
4. 4
   Rest jar at room temperature (18–22°C) for 8 weeks; shake every 3–4 days during first month, then weekly thereafter.
5. 5
   Strain through muslin cloth twice; discard solids; press solids gently to extract liquid.
6. 6
   Bottle in sterilised glass jars; seal and store at room temperature. Flavour develops further over 4 weeks.