# A Question about Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633 "2008-09-28T23:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/1 "2008-09-28T23:04:50Z")
This is a two-fold question and poll. Mods, please feel free to move this thread as necessary. When making something like Top Ramen noodles, I often put a splash of Lea & Perrins on it so liven up the taste. I’ve noticed, just by opening the bottle of L&P, and getting a whiff of the contents, my mouth starts to water, immediately. So, my questions are: 1. Has anyone else experienced that, also? 2. Does anyone know the biochemical process that causes one’s mouth to water by simply sniffing Lea & Perrins? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/2 "2008-09-28T23:19:06Z")
Do you also begin to salivate whenever you hear a bell? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/3 "2008-09-28T23:23:39Z")
It’s a natural reaction to any food that contains anchovies. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/4 "2008-09-29T00:17:55Z")
Two words. Umami. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/5 "2008-09-29T00:58:07Z")
On a related note (well, related in that it also asks about this sauce), does worchestshire “expire”? The bottle in my fridge doesn’t have a date stamped on it, and I’m fairly sure it postdates the last time my power went out (though not 100% - more like 90%). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/6 "2008-09-29T01:01:51Z")
You refrigerate it? Why bother? The stuff is aged to death before it’s even bottled. It’s not going to go bad on the pantry shelf. At least not as fast as I use the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/7 "2008-09-29T01:08:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > At least not as fast as I use the stuff. The bottle of L&P I have is not refrigerated. It is Kosher, parve, and labeled, “Best used by 11/20/07”.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/8 "2008-09-29T01:16:43Z")
Yes, the smell makes my mouth water, and I’ve kept bottle for years in the pantry to no ill effect or loss of potency. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/9 "2008-09-29T01:29:51Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > no ill effect or loss of potency. It effects your, ah, virility if not refrigerated? ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/10 "2008-09-29T03:19:40Z")
I just sniffed it - yes! Pronounciations please I say Wustersher ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/11 "2008-09-29T03:25:07Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/12 "2008-09-29T03:36:09Z")
Woos ter shire There is a place name in New Hampshire that Mrs. Plant pronounces…strangely. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/13 "2008-09-29T04:20:48Z")
IIRC there’s a line in a P.G. Wodehouse novel that Bertie Wooster pronounces his name the same as Worchestershire Sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/14 "2008-09-29T04:21:31Z")
My mouth was watering reading the thread… I just now got up and sniffed my bottle of L&P. (Who _doesn’t_ have a bottle of this stuff? Or Tabasco?) Instant mouthy wetness. Hmmm…but is it only L&P which causes this? To the immediate right of the L&P was a bottle of Liquid Smoke. I opened, I sniffed, I salivated. To the left of L&P was a bottle of balsamic vinegar. _sniff_ _sniff_ followed by waterworks. I don’t think it’s specific to L&P…I think it’s any pungent food. Or any delicious food, no matter the pungentness. When I smell chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, I have to change my t-shirt. Sometimes I have to change my shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/15 "2008-09-29T04:30:51Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > I don’t think it’s specific to L&P…I think it’s any pungent food. Or any delicious food, no matter the pungentness. When I smell chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, I have to change my t-shirt. Sometimes I have to change my shorts. I was going to mention the Liquid Smoke too. One of my daughters thinks it would make a great cologne :). Also agree about not just worcestershire (pronounced worster-shur) causing the salivating. I start to drool if I so much as look at a jar of dill pickles. It’s happening now, and I’m only _thinking_ about looking at them 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/16 "2008-09-29T04:37:01Z")
Is the instant-watering related to the cheek-pain from certain candies? Bonus question: why do I have Groucho in my head now: Mr. Worchestershire sir… any help? ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/17 "2008-09-29T05:15:03Z")
Okay… so far we can blame it on anchovies or Umami (what in the world is Umami?) or is it just pungent foods in general? So, pungent smells set our salivary glands into overdrive? Anyone know any reason why? Has this been traced down? My bottle says “Best used by 03/28/2009” The stuff on the back says it’s aged for 18 months in wooden casks. I think nothing would go bad after being aged that long. It’s probably a marketing gimick. Like the similar stamps on bottles of water that say the same thing. Has anyone ever run into spoilt Worchestershire sauce? I’ve always pronounced it “Wuss-TAH-shear” sauce. Thanks for the responses, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/18 "2008-09-29T05:22:02Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > I just sniffed it - yes! > > Pronounciations please > > I say Wustersher “Woostershuh” is the correct pronounciation, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/19 "2008-09-29T05:52:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You refrigerate it? Why bother? The stuff is aged to death before it’s even bottled. It’s not going to go bad on the pantry shelf. > > At least not as fast as I use the stuff. Habit. I have no idea how the stuff is made, so I didn’t think about chucking it in the fridge. 🙂 I’ll check my bottle again, but considering what **kittenblue** said, it should still be usable. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633/20 "2008-09-29T07:42:22Z")
I believe the chemicals responsible for this effect may be amines - the same stuff that makes mature cheese hurt your jaw. I don’t know anyone here in England that pronounces the ‘shire’ in the name - It’s Worcester (pronounced ‘wooster’, but it’s a short ‘oo’, as in ‘book’) Sauce, regardless of the spelling on the label. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-lea-perrins-worchestershire-sauce/465633.md?page=2)