While preparing Bloody Mary’s at Andrew and Carrie Purcell’s house, I discovered their homemade Worcestershire sauce. Carrie—a food stylist, got inspired to make this from a recipe from Saveur magazine, and says, “When we moved from California to New York, we didn’t want to just race out and buy a stack of bottled condiments. Instead—we thought, what a great opportunity to try and make everything from scratch, so that when we opened the fridge, there would be all these jars full of amazing goodies.”
This recipe is really simple. You just plonk everything together. And here’s the thing, once you’re tried homemade Worcestershire, you’ll never eat it out of a bottle again. This will keep in your fridge for at least 8 months.
HOMEMADE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE: In a medium saucepan combine 2 cups distilled white vinegar, 1⁄2 cup molasses, 1⁄2 cup soy sauce, 1⁄4 cup tamarind concentrate, 3 tbsp. yellow mustard seeds, 3 tbsp. kosher salt, 1 tsp. whole black peppercorns, 1 tsp. whole cloves, 1⁄2 tsp. curry powder, 5 cardamom pods, smashed, 4 chiles de árbol, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, smashed, 1 x 1″ stick cinnamon, 1 anchovy, chopped, 1 yellow onion, chopped, 1 1⁄2″ piece ginger, peeled and crushed. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook 1⁄2 cup sugar in a pan over medium-high heat until it becomes dark amber and syrupy, (about 5 minutes). Add the sugar mixture to the main mixture and whisk, to combine. Cook the sauce for another 5 minutes then transfer to a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate, covered, for 3 weeks and then strain to remove solids; return it to the jar. You can refrigerate your sauce for up to 8 months. Makes about 2 cups.
To get the original recipe, click here for the Saveur magazine link.
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PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW PURCELL.
FOOD STYLIST: CARRIE PURCELL
(Art direction: Dimity jones)
Three to One 
There are few things that can make a dish (particularly involving a great cut of meat!) better than a splash of Worcestershire sauce. I try to avoid it though since I am supposed to be figuring out how to lower my cholesterol. This sounds like a great compromise though. If I know what’s in the sauce, I know how much will be bad for me! Thanks!