Lea & Perrins recipe change?

[elfin]

Bought a new bottle of Lea&Perrins- and was disappointed in the flavor. I swear it is sweeter and less salty. My friend has noticed it as well. I always like L&P better than Heinz and now I am in the search for a replacement. Are there other brands in the US? Could it have been an old bottle(chain supermarket with good turnover so I suspect no)?. I have one recipe that depends upon the original formula.

[fifi]

OMG!!!! I am hoping that you just got a bad batch. I have more than one recipe that depends on it. I went to the L&P web site and don't find a "contact us" option. Maybe I missed something. Can you identify a batch number on the suspicious bottle?

I actually made the stuff from scratch one time. I used Emeril's recipe from Louisiana Real & Rustic. (Sorry, I can't find it on his web site or FoodTV.) It was a gray drizzly day after the holidays and I was up for a project. The house smelled like L&P for days.

[jgm]

I actually made the stuff from scratch one time. I used Emeril's recipe from Louisiana Real & Rustic. (Sorry, I can't find it on his web site or FoodTV.) It was a gray drizzly day after the holidays and I was up for a project. The house smelled like L&P for days.

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How was it? Did it taste like L&P? I had heard somewhere that the original recipe was a deep dark secret stored in a cavern somewhere. . . I'm intrigued by the idea of making it!

[Mayhaw Man]

Lea & Perrin are famous cajuns.

I just thought that you would want to know.

[fifi]

I actually made the stuff from scratch one time. I used Emeril's recipe from Louisiana Real & Rustic. (Sorry, I can't find it on his web site or FoodTV.) It was a gray drizzly day after the holidays and I was up for a project. The house smelled like L&P for days.

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How was it? Did it taste like L&P? I had heard somewhere that the original recipe was a deep dark secret stored in a cavern somewhere. . . I'm intrigued by the idea of making it!

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It was pretty darn close. I think I still have a jar lurking in the back of the pantry. If I can find it, I will open it and do a taste test. I also have an older bottle of L&P. He suggests letting it age for two weeks. This has been rattling around for at least 5 years so it may have changed.

The story he tells about doing it . . .

. . . In the mid-1980s while I was executive chef at Commander's Palace in New Orleans, The American Beef Council, looking for a new image for beef, asked some chefs to come up with new recipes. I decided to create my own Worcestershire sauce. . . .

[Bill Miller]

Lea & Perrin are famous cajuns.

I just thought that you would want to know.

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Legend has them as Englishmen--chemists (pharmacists). They made the first batch and it was so bad they put it away and forgot about it. One day they stumbled upon it, tried it again and it was magically transformed into what we know today.

[deltadoc]

Bought a new bottle of Lea&Perrins- and was disappointed in the flavor.  I swear it is sweeter and less salty. My friend has noticed it as well.    I always like L&P better than Heinz and now I am in the search for a replacement. 

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I AGREE! It has changed, and I'd stake my reputation on it. It wasn't just one bottle either. It's been changed for some time now. So, I found a homemade formula on "Ask A Chef" website. It is very good, and we canned a bunch of it. Down to one bottle.

I used to like to put a bit of L&P in hamburger, but it just doesn't work anymore. So that is why I have recently redoubled my efforts to come up with a great hamburger meat mix so that I can get the great hamburger without the L&P.

However, with that said, the homemade stuff is pretty good, although a tad different tasting, it's in the same planetary system as L&P used to be. Can't say that about Heinz!

doc

[BarbaraY]

I put some L&P on a ground beef patty at lunch and wondered why it didn't taste right. After reading this I tasted my recently purchased bottle. I agree it tastes different and is missing depth of flavor.

Why do "they" keep doing this to perfectly good products?

I have a laundry list of things that have been "improved" and are no longer satisfactory.

[hathor]

Crystal brands has a pretty good worstershire sauce. and they will deliver.

[Dave the Cook]

I've made Emeril's Worcetershire sauce. It's definitely in the same neighborhood as L&P (and fifi's right about the aroma), but I found it to be all top heat and bottom sweet -- not quite balanced. It does, however, work perfectly in his recipe for barbecued shrimp.

The second time around, I made some modifications:

Oil for sauteeing

3 C chopped onion

2 jalapeno chiles, minced

2 poblano chiles, chopped

4 t minced garlic

2 2-ounce cans anchovies in oil, lightly drained and chopped

6 or 7 whole cloves

1-1/2 T Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1-1/2 t ground black pepper

1 large lemon, peeled (zest stripped off and reserved), cut in half crosswise

2 C dark corn syrup

1 C Steen's cane syrup

2 C malt vinegar

2 C cider vinegar

2 C water

2 C grated horseradish (about 1/2 pound fresh; well-drained if bottled)

1. In a large stock pot (at least six quarts), saute the onions and chiles until softened.

2. Add everything else. Slowly bring to a bare simmer and leave it there for about four hours. It's a lot of liquid, so it might take as long as six, but let it cook down until it's very slightly syrupy (Emeril says "barely coats a wooden spoon; I like it a little thicker than that, but that's me). When you think it's close to done, crush the lemon zest into the mixture.

3. It will thicken as it cools, but strain it while it's still quite warm, or you'll never recover all the liquid.

4. Use standard canning procedures. Process for 15 minutes. Let age for at least two weeks.

This has more body (for some, that might not be desirable) than the original, and more middle heat (the poblanos, more garlic) and sweet (the poblanos and the vinegars, which replace white vinegar in Emeril's recipe), at the slight expense of what I call heavy sweetness.

Next time I might add one more can of anchovies, and substitute cayenne for some of the jalapeno. My observation is that the jalapenos and anchovies lose some of their power over time.

[fifi]

Dave . . . I think you are on the right track. I agree about adding the cayenne. That should put the heat balance just about right. I am grooving on what I have learned from Prudhomme on the blending of the various chile heat characteristics. The man is a genius at that.

[snowangel]

Dave's recipe can be found in RecipeGullet, right here!

[balex]

I've made Emeril's Worcetershire sauce. It's definitely in the same neighborhood as L&P (and fifi's right about the aroma), but I found it to be all top heat and bottom sweet -- not quite balanced. It does, however, work perfectly in his recipe for barbecued shrimp.

The second time around, I made some modifications:

Oil for sauteeing

3 C chopped onion

2 jalapeno chiles, minced

2 poblano chiles, chopped

4 t minced garlic

2 2-ounce cans anchovies in oil, lightly drained and chopped

6 or 7 whole cloves

1-1/2 T Diamond Crystal kosher salt

1-1/2 t ground black pepper

1 large lemon, peeled (zest stripped off and reserved), cut in half crosswise

2 C dark corn syrup

1 C Steen's cane syrup

2 C malt vinegar

2 C cider vinegar

2 C water

2 C grated horseradish (about 1/2 pound fresh; well-drained if bottled)

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No tamarind? For some reason I have always thought that worcestershire sauce had a lot of tamarind in it, (googling for the two names seems to confirm this)

[Dave the Cook]

No tamarind? For some reason I have always thought that worcestershire sauce had a lot of tamarind in it, (googling for the two names seems to confirm this)

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I saw that, too, but I'm just working off Emeril's recipe. I guess he's used lemon plus a variety of syrups as an alternative. Tamarind is another thing to think about for the next batch.

[elfin]

I contacted the L&P consumer hotline. She said that the recipe had not changed and they had no complaints of a different flavor. I told her that others around the nation had also noticed a difference. She then said it could be a batch difference based on the ingredients-the stuff matures for 2 years. We have been using L&P since the early sixties and have NEVER had a bottle vary. Do I go out and get another with a different batch number? I probably will and taste it in the parking lot. If it tastes bad, I will return it-hopefully L&P will get the message.

[Badiane]

Sometimes the L&P produced in the States is made with HFCS...your best bet is to purchase it either at a store that imports it from Worcester in GB (that's pronounced Wuster, btw, and it's Wuster-sure if you want the whole pronunciation) or to buy it in Canada, where they use the original recipe.

I have bottles of the stuff sent both from England and bought here in Canada...I would be happy to post ingredients when I get home if anyone is interested.

[Mayhaw Man]

Lea & Perrin are famous cajuns.

I just thought that you would want to know.

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Legend has them as Englishmen--chemists (pharmacists). They made the first batch and it was so bad they put it away and forgot about it. One day they stumbled upon it, tried it again and it was magically transformed into what we know today.

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Legends. You believe yours, I'll believe Justin Wilson.

[elfin]

tamarind is in the L&P ingredients

[deltadoc]

I contacted the L&P consumer hotline.  She said that the recipe had not changed and they had no complaints of a different flavor

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And the Coca-Cola company swears that "Original Formula" is the same as the pre-New Coke Coca-Cola, but most everyone knows this is not so.

They also claim that Coca-Cola never had cocaine or codeine in it either....

I checked my L&P in the fridge, and the two cases bought months apart downstairs. Opened two more bottles. They all have different batch numbers and they all taste the same, not the same as in the olde days!

And as far as L&P "aging 2 years" I remember that used to be on the bottle, but not anymore!

doc

Edited November 22, 2005 by deltadoc (log)

[fifi]

I found the jar of Emeril's recipe. Remember, it has been "lost" for 5 years. It was almost jelled. I shook it up, glared at it, squinted at it, walked around it, walked off for a while. About two hours later, I swept the cobwebs away, girded my loins and opened it. I tasted it. I didn't die. At least not yet.

I will say that it tastes sweeter than I remember. I don't remember sweet. I remember it tasting closer to L&P. I would have noticed sweet and went yuk and put a note in the book to cut the syrups back.

Unfortunately, I am actually out of L&P at the moment. I will get some tomorrow.

[klingedp]

  I always like L&P better than Heinz and now I am in the search for a replacement. 

I'm not sure if this is the reason for the change, but Heinz acquired L&P.

http://www.thestreet.com/_tscs/stocks/food/10238217.html

Dawn

[fifi]

Acquisition by Heinz may have something to do with it if they changed the process. Maybe the aging time changed. From my homemade experiement of 5 years ago, I can definitely say that the stuff changed over the 5 years. It was stored in the pantry, not the fridge. But, I never have put L&P in the fridge. I think Dave is correct. Some of the flavor components, like anchovies, don't hold up long. What I am getting at is that perhaps the stuff could change due to changes in the process, having nothing to do with the formula. It would take a long time to tinker with the formula.

But I did go ahead and read the company history on their web site just out of curiosity. They have been bought before.

But, I can't imagine a company changing something that has such a long history and loyal following. But then . . . There was that New Coke thing, wasn't there.

[fifi]

I just got back from the store with a "fresh" bottle of L&P. Here are the ingredients as listed on the label.

Vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup*, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic tamarind concentrate, cloves, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract.

* Is there no way to avoid this stuff?

Yes, it is sweeter. Also, I think the clove flavor is stronger.

It is also labeled as "The Original." I don't think so! I don't think they had high fructose corn syrup in 1835. Where is the FTC when you need them? Isn't this a truth in labeling issue?

[rlibkind]

I find it difficult to believe that any changes would be due to the sale of the product line from one industrial food company (Groupe Danone) to another industrial food company (Heinz).

The sale includes the factories. (There's no guarantee the current manufacturing facilities will remain, of course. If Heinz determines it can maintain desireable distribution but take advantage of manufacturing efficiencies elsewhere, they will).

The acquisition is still being reviewed by the UK Competition Commission, which is not expected to rule until next April.

[PPX]

I just got back from the store with a "fresh" bottle of L&P. Here are the ingredients as listed on the label.

Vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup*, anchovies, water, onions, salt, garlic tamarind concentrate, cloves, natural flavorings, chili pepper extract.

* Is there no way to avoid this stuff?

Yes, it is sweeter. Also, I think the clove flavor is stronger.

It is also labeled as "The Original." I don't think so! I don't think they had high fructose corn syrup in 1835. Where is the FTC when you need them? Isn't this a truth in labeling issue?

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So, is that the entire ingredient list? My bottle of L&P reads:

vinegar,molasses,high fructose corn syrup,anchovies,water,hydrolyzed soy and corn protein(me:"what's that?"),onions,tamarinds,salt,garlic,cloves,chili peppers,natural flavoringsand shallots

more stuff in mine?