The sauce Americans can’t seem to pronounce, has an unusual origin. I’m sure you already know where this is going and quite honestly I usually just call it W sauce because the mouthful just isn’t worth it.

Worcestershire Sauce is a staple for many marinades that will make your mouth water. Its savory, unique flavor is delicious and unique but unlike other sauces, it wasn’t created it was actually just kind of an accident.

Long long ago in 1835, an experimental sauce was attempted- the only problem was that it was so god-awful that the taste testers couldn’t stomach more than just a taste.

John Lea and William Perrins, two pharmacy owners from Worcester, England were asked by a customer to try and create a fermented fish sauce that’s roots are said to have come from India. The attempt was unsuccessful but after the work to replicate this sauce – the two men decided to bottle up the concoction and store it in the cellar due to the potent odor.

It wasn’t until 2 years later when a clerk stumbled upon the bottle of stinky sauce and for some reason decided to taste it. That’s right, the daring clerk thought that tasting a 2-year-old smelly bottle of fermented vinegar, anchovies molasses, salt, pepper, tamarind extract, onion, and garlic was a good idea.

Turns out the clerk wasn’t so crazy after all because the sauce had fermented into the more familiar sauce we all know and hate to pronounce today.