Four tablespoons of the stuff tipped into a half pint glass of cold tomato
juice and vigourously stirred makes quite a good substitute for a double
strength extra hot Vindaloo Curry. What many may not know is that Worcester
Sauce was the vital elixir in which uncooked meat was steeped prior to the
days of fresh fruit and vegetables on sailing ships. While the fruit and veg
did much to prevent scurvy, Worcester Sauce had amazing properties for the
prevention of haemmorhoids and is alleged to have been the prime reason for
sailors dancing something called "The Hornpipe." This activity came about as
they waited (fairly) patiently in the queue for "the heads." In earlier
times, it was much favoured by ships surgeons when performing an
amputation - especially when they had run out of bullets for their patients
to bite on. Finally, and not many people know this, it was a barrel full of
Worcester Sauce which preserved the mortal remains of Admiral Lord Nelson
after being shot by a French sniper at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Many
schoolboys believe it was a barrel of 'grog' (rum) but this is unfounded. It
was WORCESTER SAUCE - and us poor blighters are still drinking the contents
of that same barrel! BTW, if any FOTer decides to visit the Lea and Perrins
factory to see the stuff being made - DON'T! The smell is a cross between an
overheated Japanese juggler's jockstrap and an overheated Russian armpit.
I've smelled both (by accident and from a distance) and somehow survived to
tell the tale.
John Mac
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