You already know A.1.
steak sauce is tangy and savory.
But when it comes to knowing what's actually in that familiar brown bottle… wait til
you see what all goes into making A.1.
A1 fans already know – it's all about that tang.
But not everyone realizes how much of that zesty yumminess comes from fruit – crushed
orange puree, to be exact.
Adding oranges to the recipe was the brainchild of Chef Henderson William Brand, the man who
invented A.1.
sauce for King George the Fourth, back in 1800s England.
And while Brand always made sure to include the oranges – the exact type of oranges
he used remains a mystery.
We do know the most common types of oranges available in Europe at that time were bitter
Seville and sweet China varieties.
Seville oranges are commonly used for marmalades and wines, while China oranges are popular
for eating and juicing.
"Good.
No.
Better.
Tomato.
Lovely."
Of course, any orange, regardless of the variety, will add notes of citrus, fruit, and floral,
along with woodsy, bitter, and green flavors.
The acidity in oranges can also soften and tenderize the surface of the meat, which can
be a real benefit for tough cuts.
Then again, leaving it on for too long could result in a mushy texture.
So, note to cooks: use your A1 responsibly!
"Alright y'all, come and get it!"
A wide variety of chemicals can be thanked for the mighty tomato's complex array of flavors,
including something called glutamic acid.
This acid imparts a delicious, rich, umami taste to foods, including A.1. sauce.
Now, if the word 'glutamic' sounds familiar, this is because it's also made into a product
that's found in many sauces and restaurant foods – monosodium glutamate, otherwise
known as MSG.
This acid is also responsible for making meats, like steak, taste savory, and, yes, meatier,
which explains why meat and tomato sauce taste so good together.
"Oh that's my sauce!
I make it myself!"
"You carry your own sauce?"
"Doesn't everybody?"
As tomatoes ripen, the glutamic acid increases, causing more umami flavor to be detected.
Acidic ingredients, like tomatoes, also help tenderize meat through a process called denaturation.
In fact, you may notice that the acids in A.1.
slightly tenderize the meat after it's added.
The fibers in tomatoes also help thicken the sauce, giving A.1.
that amazing texture fans can't live without.
"Imagine, a great place like this without A1 on the table!"
"Yeah!"
"Nothing like it on hamburgers."
“You bet.”
"After all what is hamburger?
Chopped ham?
It’s chopped steak!"
And while the taste of tomatoes isn't obvious when you're eating A.1.
steak sauce, it still contributes to its deliciousness.
Love 'em or hate 'em, you simply couldn't make A.1.
sauce without tomatoes.
There's more to vinegar than pickles!
Not only does it add brightness to sauces like A.1., it can also help to tenderize meat,
even if you only leave it on for a short time.
While it won't penetrate deeply, it will break down the chemical structure of the protein
on the surface of the steak, softening it up.
And while the A.1.
label doesn't indicate the type of vinegar used, previous versions contained malt vinegar,
which comes from ale or malted barley grain.
And when Chef Henderson William Brand made that first batch of A.1.
sauce for King George, malt vinegar was the most popular type of vinegar in England.
"This is what makes me shake."
So it's a good guess that Malt was probably the type of vinegar used in the original A.1 sauce.
Today, when cooks try to recreate A.1.
sauce at home, they typically use balsamic vinegar or a combination of balsamic and apple
cider vinegar, imparting sweet notes to the sauce.
Vinegar's acidic notes help give sauces, A.1.
included, a deliciously tangy punch.
Everything tastes better with garlic; this member of the allium family is also one of
the ingredients that makes A.1.
steak sauce so delicious.
When you break down garlic cells by cutting or crushing them, a chemical reaction happens,
creating something called 'allicin,' a sulfurous compound which gives garlic its signature flavor.
The more you mince and crush the garlic, the more yummy allicin flavor you get. A.1.
sauce contains dried, powdered, garlic, which, being concentrated, adds an even more intensely
savory garlic flavor.
"MMMM delicious!"
So remember – adding garlic, and garlic-based sauces like A.1., to steak, doesn't just taste
good – it actually improves the flavor of the meat.
And garlic actually brings out the sulfur compounds in meat at a greater level than onions.
The garlic flavor in A.1.
is subtle, however, not overwhelming, enhancing, rather than overpowering, your steaks.
Like garlic, onion is an allium that combines with the sulfur-based flavors in meats.
In other words, when you add onions to red meat, everyone wins.
And like garlic, the more you cut into onions, the more they release their powerfully flavor-inducing chemicals.
"Ta da!"
Imagine you have a cheap, lean cut of meat – or a piece that, for any reason, is lacking
in flavor.
The fix is a sauce made with garlic and onions – like A.1!
Onion and garlic pack a one-two punch, elevating meat's flavor AND texture, and A.1.
sauce contains finely-ground dried onion powder, concentrating the flavor that permeates the sauce.
While it's true that the onion element doesn't overwhelm the overall taste of A.1., it still
adds plenty of zest.
Without onions, A.1.
steak sauce would certainly be missing that special something.
One surprising ingredient that makes A.1.
sauce so delicious is celery.
"Hey Lenny, I see you cut the celery at an angle here.
Makes my straight cut celery look like crap!"
Celery can be overwhelming if it's not well-balanced, which is why only a faint undercurrent of
celery flavor can be detected.
And though we often think about acid, salt, and sugar as natural preservatives, celery
has these abilities as well, providing antioxidant, antimicrobial, and curing properties.
Have you ever seen a restaurant keep A.1.
sauce out on the table all day long?
This is because of the celery – it's one of the ingredients that keeps the sauce safe
to consume without continual refrigeration.
A few compounds in celery also enhance sweetness along with a more savory, umami flavor.
Additionally, scientists think the smell of celery brings out these elements in other
foods, making it a great addition to sauce.
So as you can see, the celery in A.1.
works overtime – not only does it lend sweet and savory flavor notes and aromas, it also
helps preserve it.
A1 sauce just wouldn't be the same without it.
One of the more mysterious ingredients that makes A.1.
sauce so delicious is…raisins!
That's right, those little dried grapes are an essential ingredient, lending a depth of
flavor you simply couldn't find anywhere else.
Raisins lend sweetness and tanginess to A1's overall flavor profile, helping it work its
magic on hamburger or steak.
"A1 brings out all the deep down juicy goodness of every single bite, of steak, or even hamburger!"
Additionally, raisins are another ingredient that can help keep meat fresh longer thanks
to a high antioxidant content.
Now, there's no indication on the label as to whether the raisins in A.1.
are red or golden, though most homemade A.1.
sauce recipes do contain the golden variety.
In his classic book "On Food and Cooking," Harold McGee explains that golden raisins
are dried at a specific humidity and temperature, resulting in a lighter and fruitier taste.
But even if you're not a fan of raisins, not to worry – the flavor is subtle – these
little dried grapes work in sweet harmony with all of the other ingredients.
Although corn had made its way to Europe by the time Chef Brand was in the royal kitchen
creating A.1.
sauce, the methods needed to process corn syrup hadn't yet been invented – that wouldn't
happen until later in the 19th century.
So it's obvious that Brand wasn't using corn syrup to sweeten his recipe.
That being said, A.1.
sauce still isn't as sweet as other meat sauces, such as barbecue or teriyaki.
Why did Kraft Heinz, the maker of A.1., decide to use corn syrup instead of molasses or sugar?
Well, one reason is probably that corn syrup adds sweetness without much of a change in
the overall flavor.
Corn syrup also has a great, honey-like texture, something that provides a nice degree of stickiness
and a thicker consistency to the sauce.
And perhaps corn syrup is less expensive than other types of sugar.
But whatever the reason, one thing's for sure: this is an all-American addition to an old
British recipe.
Xanthan gum is another ingredient that we can assume didn't appear in the original A.1.
sauce recipe.
So why is it added now?
Well, xanthan gum is a thickener, which is why so many commercial ice cream makers use it.
But, contrary to its technical-sounding name, xanthan gum isn't a lab-produced chemical
–it's actually a byproduct of cabbage fermentation.
Xanthan gum helps thicken and stabilize – so, the more powder added, the thicker the sauce.
"Sooo good."
"I want some fancy sauce!"
"Yeah."
"I’m not done using it."
"It's good."
"Can I have fancy sauce?"
"Of course."
While some other ingredients, like tomatoes, raisins, and corn syrup, also thicken the
sauce, the final texture can be adjusted more precisely with the use of xanthan gum.
Since xanthan gum is flavorless, using it as a thickener – instead of something like
corn starch, or flour – allows the other flavors of the sauce to shine through.
In other words, though you won't ever taste xanthan gum in A.1., it is one of the things
responsible for that nice texture.
What does color have to do with flavor?
A lot!
Studies have shown that color has a strong influence on our brains, making color the
most important indicator of what we think food should taste like.
Essentially, we're likely to have good associations with foods –and sauces – that have appealing colors.
Imagine if all of the tomatoes in the sauce made A.1.
look bright red, like ketchup, or what if, instead of brown, the sauce was bright green
or blue…whew!
A.1.'s decision to add caramel color to their sauce demonstrates how the color brown can
work with your brain to make food taste better.
Brown is a color that many people associate with comfort foods – gravies and sauces,
toasted breads, and of course, any kind of roasted or grilled meats, from steaks to burgers
to briskets.
"That's fantastic!"
"It is really good."
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah.”
“Wonderful.”
"AND REALLY HEALTHY!"
And according to research done in the field of color psychology, humans actually have
a clear, positive association with the color brown – just seeing it can produce feelings
such as dependability, warmth, and security.
In other words, comfort.
A.1. sauce features both sweet and salty flavors together – and the combination is addictive,
creating the contrast that makes A.1.
sauce so craveable.
But what is it about salt that works so well with steak?
For one thing, salt, also known as sodium chloride, is a flavor enhancer, and the reasoning
is basic science.
Salt also unlocks aromatic compounds found in foods while helping to release flavor molecules.
Salt even reduces how we perceive food's sour or bitter qualities – things like crushed
orange puree or vinegar, in A.1.'s case.
"What’s this?"
"Yeah.
A little salt on it?"
But if you're still unsure about the power of salt, consider the old fairy tale about
a king's daughter who conveys her love for him by saying she loves him as much as meat
loves salt.
This fairy tale has had many incarnations around the world, making it clear that salt
as a meat enhancer has been a widely-held belief for a very long time.
No sauce is without its secrets, and it's the secret spices that make A.1.
so delicious.
But if you're looking for answers on the label, you're out of luck: the A.1.
label only has the generic word "spices" among its ingredients.
Now, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there are only 38 herbs and spices that can
officially be labeled as "spices," which does narrow down the possibilities somewhat.
"The spice, he knows about the spice."
Chefs and home cooks who try to create their own homemade A.1.
steak sauce recipes have speculated widely about the identity of these secret spices.
Celebrity chef Alton Brown hypothesizes that it could be an umami-rich array that includes
dried mushroom powder, allspice, white pepper, and anchovies.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based chef and restaurant owner Josiah Citrin likes to use Dijon mustard,
yellow mustard, button mushrooms, anchovies, tarragon, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and cayenne
pepper in his homemade A.1.
steak sauce.
Several copycat A.1.
recipes found online also include Worcestershire sauce, which contains anchovies, cloves, tamarind
extract, and chili pepper.
The only guesses from chefs that fit within the FDA definition of "spices" are mustard,
allspice, white pepper, tarragon, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and chili pepper.
So we have to conclude that those are the most likely contenders for the A.1.'s "secret ingredients."
But with the sauce so readily available on store shelves, we have to wonder, why not
just grab a bottle of the real thing and enjoy?
Your steak – or burger – will thank you!