I think that brown sauce is a specifically
british condiment (although if
anyone here knows better please let me know). There are two major
brands here
in the
UK:
HP Sauce which comes in
square-section bottles, and
Daddies' Sauce which comes in more traditional
round bottles. Of course
there are many lesser varieties and
supermarket own-brand versions, but HP
and Daddies' are the
market leaders.
The actual blend of herbs and spices used within each manufacturer's
sauce is naturally a trade secret, but I will investigate a little and
attempt to find out exactly what they put in this sauce.
Brown sauce is a similar consistency to tomato ketchup but is, naturally,
brown rather than red, and has a sharper, slightly spicy flavour, with less
of the sweetness usually associated with ketchup. It's the perfect
accompaniment to bacon sandwiches and chip butties, and can
also be used in cooking: I find that one or two dollops of brown sauce
whenever a recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce can produce a subtle but
tasty variant of the original dish.
achan tells me that HP Sauce is available in Canada, further proof that
they are indeed a civilised nation who not only know how to spell but
also appreciate the finer things in life!